Something’s gotta give. Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will put their unbeaten clay records on the line when they square off this coming Friday in the semifinals of the 2015 French Open. Both stars are playing the best tennis of their lives so expect a mouth-watering showdown between these two sporting greats.
Who will emerge victorious in this blockbuster matchup? Read on below for a preview of this titanic showdown and while you’re at it, you can check out our breakdown of the other men’s semifinal between Stan Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Novak Djokovic will head to his semifinal clash with Andy Murray with momentum on his side after crushing defending champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The world No. 1 brushed aside the Spaniard in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1, in a match that lasted two hours and 26 minutes.
[sc:Other240banner ]It was a dominant performance from Djokovic who became only the second man to beat Nadal at the French Open. He outhit the nine-time champion in the winners department, 45-16. Djokovic also won 76% of his first serve points.
Djokovic has been in excellent form in this tournament as he has yet to drop a set in this year’s event. Through his first five matches, Djokovic is averaging a whopping 40.2 winners. He has also managed to limit his mistakes and has committed an average of just 23.2 unforced errors.
With his victory against Nadal, Djokovic has extended his winning streak to 27 matches. The world No. 1 will fancy his chances of stretching his unbeaten run against Murray as he has fared extremely well against the Briton in the past. Djokovic leads their head-to-head matchup, 18-8. He’s won seven straight against Murray and 10 of their last 11 matches.
They have met each other twice before on the slow surface, with Djokovic winning both of those encounters. Their last meeting on clay came four years ago in the semifinals of the Rome Masters with Djokovic winning in three tough sets, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (2).
With that being said, Djokovic remains wary of Murray heading into their heavyweight clash. In an interview after his win against Nadal, Djokovic uttered “He (Murray) has improved on clay, no doubt about it. He’s moving better, serving very well, and he always had a (good) touch.”
For Djokovic to beat Murray this coming Friday, he needs to improve on his first serve percentage. He converted just 63% of his first serves against Nadal. That could be trouble against Murray who converted eight of his 16 break point chances in the quarters against Ferrer.
Andy Murray secured a place in the semifinals of the 2015 French Open with a tough 7-6 (4), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 win over David Ferrer on Wednesday. It was a terrific performance from the Briton who needed three hours and 16 minutes to see off the Spaniard.
Murray has been on a tear on the slow surfaces this season. With his victory against Ferrer, he extended his unbeaten record on clay this year to 15 matches. The No. 3 seed was clinical in his quarterfinal win against the clay-court specialist, hitting 53 winners, converting 50% of his break-point chances and winning 16 of his 24 net approaches. Of course, it also helped matters that Ferrer committed a whopping 42 unforced errors in the match.
It won’t get any easier for Murray as standing in his way in the next round is eight-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. Murray is 2-5 against Djokovic in Grand Slam events. Their last meeting in a Grand Slam came in the final of the Australian Open earlier this year where Djokovic won in four tough sets, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0.
For Murray to snap his losing rut against Djokovic, he needs to improve on his first serve percentage. He put into play just 58% of his first serves against Ferrer. To illustrate how useful a tool Murray’s first serve is, he won 78% of his first serve points against Ferrer. If his first serves are right on the money this coming Friday, he’ll stand a better chance of upsetting the red-hot Djokovic.
