Well who would have though it! No Federer, no Nadal in a Grand Slam final. The first time that has happened since 2008, the year Novak Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win his only Grand Slam Title to date. Well Novak is back to have another go in 2011. The Serbian is playing great tennis and the last two weeks he has shown why he can challenge Roger and Rafa for that number one world ranking. The 23 year old world number 3 has demolished the likes of Nicolas Almagro, Tomas Berydch and most impressively Roger Federer, all in straight sets. He is using his powerful all court game to get the better of his opponents. Novak has all the shots and uses them to good effect. He will never give up and during his semi final clash with Federer, you could see the passion he has for the game.
Andy Murray has also impressed during the tournament, though he has had a far easier draw than Novak. Alexandr Dolgopolov took a set off him in the quarters, as did David Ferrer in the semis, yet Murray has battled his way into the final. He has managed to avoid the likes of Robin Soderling and Rafael Nadal, and should go into the match just as fresh as Djokovic. The big part of Murray's game which needs to work for Murray in the final is his first serve. He needs too be able to rely on it to earn him some cheap points and avoid Djokovic from returning winners back at him. His serve let him down against Ferrer and nearly put him in big trouble at the end of the second set. The Scot has all the skills on the court to beat the best and has a good tennis head, knowing instinctively what shot to play and when. I think his best chance is to keep his 1st serve and move the Serbian from side to side on the court, making him run for the shots. If long rallies occur then Novak could well dominate the match. Murray needs to get cheap points off his serve and set up the points to be won. He will need to cut out some of the unforced errors he created against Ferrer.
The two players have played 7 times before with Djokoviv leading 4-3 in matches. However the Brit has won the last 3 matches against Novak, the last of which came in 2009 in the Miami Masters. I think both players have improved since then and I think this is a different type of match. They have two times before in an ATP final and Murray won both of them. This match has the potential to be a true classic. It could go either way, and the bookmakers have Djokovic as the favourite. He is higher ranked, won the title before and has been playing the better tennis. Murray though will not make it easy and if he can get into the mind of Novak he will have a chance. As a true patriotic British tennis fan my pick for the final will be a tense Andy Murray victory.
Match Prediction:
Andy Murray to win (low stakes)
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