Murray and Djokovic continue rivalry in final

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Murray and Djokovic continue rivalry in final

4/5/09 12:05 AM | Cheryl Murray
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic will square off for the seventh time on Sunday afternoon in the Sony Ericsson Open final.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic holds a healthy winning edge over Andy Murray. The world No. 3 has beaten Murray in four of their six encounters on both clay and hard courts. The edge in Sunday’s final must go to the Scot, however. Murray has won their last two meetings (though with some difficulty) and his form has been better this week than that of Djokovic.

The Serb had a big win on Friday over Roger Federer, which will certainly bolster his confidence heading into Sunday’s final. Federer played quite poorly, but Djokovic’s consistency forced the issue with Federer in sets two and three.

Murray also had a three-set match in the semis against Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro. The world No. 4 played magnificent tennis in the first and third sets, and only had a slight drop in form in the middle set. Murray’s return was particularly effective against Del Potro.

The final promises to be a closely contested affair. Expect Murray to do against Djokovic what he has done all week, and that is to vary the pace of the ball. This tactic has proven effective in drawing errors – in particular, the nasty short sliced backhand that Federer used to employ so successfully. Djokovic, for his part, will have to serve well and, more importantly, he will have to be patient. Going for too much against Murray is a sure way to lose a match.

Prediction – Murray in three, and it will be close.

Check out Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic head-to-head statistics

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Comments

I wouldn't call this much of a rivalry. At least not yet.

RickyDimon , 4/5/09 12:56 AM

My two favourites going against each other in final, so great! I think nole will edge this one though. Good luck to both

orion , 4/5/09 12:57 AM

Yeah Ricky is right. Murray's a bad matchup for Nole. Murray's beaten Nole both times when they played last on hard courts. And that was last year, when Murray was not the 'Murray' he's today.

Advantage Murray. Clutch match for Djokovic tomorrow. A tame loss to Murray might push him again into depths of mental frustration. He's been having enough issues as it is.. with the elements (heat, wind etc), parents, racket-change, financial etc etc..

imjimmy , 4/5/09 1:29 AM

I cannot agree that Murray is bad matchup for Nole. When Novak was winning his four matches it was with bigger edge, then Murray's winning in 2 tiebreaks. And both matches were in back to back tournaments after Wimbledon, where Murray had career change success, while Novak had big disappointment. They are both better today than in July last year, but I would say with bigger positive gap for Novak (confidence wise).
Although not the same, but interesting nevertheless, it was also predicted that Murray would win over Nadal in IW based on recent successes ? compared to previous losses, but did not happen.
Somehow, I feel that Novak will not let this one go easily from him, and he will prevail in as many tough sets as required.

HogarTheHorrible , 4/5/09 8:57 AM

Nice point about Murray varying the pace. He's a smart one -

thefanchild , 4/5/09 2:03 PM

Nice prediction, Cheryl. Andy can't depend on Djoker Smurf to play badly.
But if Andy plays well, I think he can do this.

mara2 , 4/5/09 2:14 PM

Here is link to interesting video - Andy & Novak together in Head Rackets promotion:
http://tennisconnected.com/home/2009/04/03/heads-youtek-te chnology/

HogarTheHorrible , 4/5/09 3:32 PM

Ha mara, good one!

Rafterfan , 4/5/09 3:50 PM

alex and torres9: are we celebrating?? Yes we ARE!!!

deuce , 4/5/09 9:08 PM

deuce and all muzz fans (torres?):

VERY high fives ::::::::::)))))))))))))))

alex , 4/5/09 9:19 PM

Smart match by Murray. If Novak wants to challenge Murray, Nadal and the likes, he needs to get physically fitter and stronger. He has the talent what is lacking is physical attributes.

samprallica , 4/5/09 10:52 PM

I am always a Fed fan, sorry. But Murray is scary. This guy is the closest thing you have for perfection. I always thought that if a player can have the speed,fitness and mentality like Rafa and genius shotmaking like Fed, then we might witness a perfect baseliner. If he have the volley of Sampras then it will be better.

I agree with sampralicca that now it is a scenario of the Big 2 : Nadal and Murray.

torres9 , 4/6/09 3:55 AM

It's a pity that once again we once again we had a situation where there was more comment about why the other guy lost than praise and congratulations for the man who won. A mark of Murrays growing maturity is that he was able to weather the dip in his game during the 2nd set and eventually rise above the distraction of the MTO after the lst game.

I have to hand it to Novak, he was gracious in defeat. And I liked the concern Murray showed for Novak at the end of the match.

torres9, 4/6/09 3:55 AM Agree with you Murray is maturing into a formidable player with all the tools to be a future No.1.

ed251137 , 4/6/09 11:06 AM

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