The top two players in the world will meet again in the 2016 Australian Open final. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will be gunning for his fifth Aussie Open title in six years when he takes on a familiar foe in No. 2 Andy Murray.
Murray, who will be making yet another finals appearance in Melbourne after losing to Djokovic last year, is coming off a gruelling semifinal matchup with Milos Raonic. Will the Brit have enough in the tank to finally take down the Djoker?
Read on below for a complete breakdown of the men’s final below. Meanwhile, don’t forget to check out our preview of the women’s final between Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber here.
Novak Djokovic played close to flawless tennis in the first two sets of his semifinal match with Roger Federer. The Serb was simply stunning as he needed just 54 minutes to put the Swiss master on the brink. He eventually sealed the deal in four sets, 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Djokovic has bounced back extremely well from his very sloppy five-setter against Gilles Simon in the Round of 16. He disposed of the dangerous Kei Nishikori in straight-sets in the quarterfinal, before sweeping Federer aside in the semis to reach his sixth ever Aussie Open final.
The World No. 1 is a perfect 5-0 in those first five finals, and has beaten Murray in three of them (2011, 2013, and 2015).
Djokovic has simply had Murray’s number throughout their career head-to-heads. The Serb is 21-9 overall, but is an incredible 13-2 in their last 15 meetings, majority of which have come on hard court.
Djokovic will have the much fresher legs after Murray’s marathon semifinal, which should give the Djoker the edge if the match goes on to a fourth or fifth set. But given the ease with which Djokovic handled Federer, he might not even need those extra sets to claim another Aussie Open crown.
For the first time all tournament, Andy Murray was pushed to all five sets as No. 13 Milos Raonic gave the No. 2 seed all he could handle in their semifinal matchup. After losing a third-set tie-break, Murray rallied to claim the next two sets and the match, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-2, in just over four hours.
Murray had some difficulty disrupting Raonic’s notoriously strong service game. The Brit went just 4-of-16 on break point opportunities and won just 34 percent of receiving points. However, his own service game was spot on, as he was broken just once.
The odds will definitely be stacked against Murray as he aims to finally break his 0-4 career record in Australian Open finals. He shouldn’t be completely ruled out in this next matchup against Djokovic, though, seeing as he’s played the World No. 1 pretty close in Melbourne.
Their last three Aussie Open meetings have gone at least four sets, while four of their last eight sets have gone to a tie-break. (They won two apiece.) A couple more breaks during those tie-breaks could be all Murray needs to finally topple the top seed.
Writer’s Prediction
Djokovic just has too much for Murray once again as the Serb wins in four sets.
