Men's Final Preview Aussie Open: The New Rivalry

The passing of the torch might be occurring in front of our eyes. It's not just one player, Novak Djokovic, but two. Andy Murray seems to have both feet planted on the top of the men's game. The absence of Rafael Nadal helped Murray reach the US Open Final, ultimately winning it. His short term dominance over Roger Federer, won three out of last four, has propelled him in the minds of many, over the Greatest of All-Time. The "Golden" rivalry of Nadal-Federer seems to be dying down with injuries and lack of major final battles. Murray-Djokovic is the NOW and we should expect a grinders final for the Australian Open title.


The Players
Novak Djokovic ran through his first three rounds as he had better things to do. There was absolutely no threat to his game as none of his three challengers were up to his high level. That changed quite a bit in the fourth round. Stan Wawrinka took the world's number one to five tough, grinding sets losing 12-10 in the fifth. Djokovic definitely survived a scare as he was down a set and break. At 5-3 in the second, Wawrinka served for a two set to love lead, he would not win another game in that set. Nolé buckled down breaking the number two Swiss twice to take the set 7-5. From there it was a battle that saw Djokovic pushed to the brink, but did not see him break. After his close encounter with defeat, Djoko ran through Berdych in four not-so-close sets and dismantling David Ferrer in three. The Serb will be coming into the final with confidence and much needed rest. He gets one more day of rest compared to his foe, Murray.

The "Golden Boy", Andy Murray, is coming off his first major of the year, climbing up to number three in the rankings, and the hard to come by Olympic Gold Medal. His 2012 was his best so far on the ATP tour. In 2013, he has not missed a beat as of yet. Andy trampled through his competition in straight sets until the semifinals, not even going into a tiebreaker in any of his sets. His semifinal was a little bit of a different story as he faced the Swiss Maestro, Federer. The match was pushed to the brink; a four hour five set event. Even though it was a tough match, Andy was in control for most of it. Federer only had a couple of chances, to his credit, he converted on them. The Scot had a lot more opportunities that saw him squander most of them. He will have fewer chances against Djokovic and must be better at capitalizing on them if he is going to pull off his first Aussie Open title.


The Matchup
This will be only the third time these two face each other in a major. The first time was here in Melbourne just last year in an epic semifinal that saw Nolé win his second Aussie Open. The other meeting was in New York where Murray claimed his first major of his career. This major-rubber-match should be fireworks as the last two were epics. Their head-to-head has Djokovic leading 10-7 and winning the last two contests, but both have gone the distance.



Djokovic made his claim as the best player on the planet two years ago by becoming more offensive. Andy has demonstrated that ability the past six months. Against Federer in their semifinal encounter, he was all over Roger. The Swiss was on his heels defending most of the four hours of play. This match should see both players in a seesaw battle; both playing defense to offense as they so often do. Murray will have to take it to Djokovic like never before. He must make Djoko run from side to side not allowing him to get his feet under him in any offensive position. Djokovic will be looking to do the same as that is his game style and there is no one right now better than him.

The Prediction
This match has the making of another epic battle. Both Djokovic and Murray are at the prime of their careers, hitting the ball cleaner than anyone else on tour. Their past two battles in majors were "hold on to your seat" sensational and this one will be right up there. The extra day of rest might be the slight difference in this match. I see Djokovic taking this in five grueling sets making Andy work for every single point. Remember the semifinal last year  here in Melbourne? Expect the same exact match, but now for the Aussie Open title.

Djokovic in five : 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6