For the fourth time in the past six years, the Australian Open men’s finals will witness a battle between the same two gentlemen. A final featuring the top two seeds is a dream ticket for the organizers and spectators alike as the 2016 Australian Open will come to a climax as Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will fight for the title on Sunday at Rod Laver Arena.
Over the past two weeks, both players have shown why they are considered the finest of this generation. At least on current form, these two should be reckoned as the best players in the world. While Djokovic picked up from where he left off after a dominant 2015, Murray showed that he’s not far off continuing his form from the Davis Cup win at the end of last season.
To say that Djokovic is a pre-tournament favorite is just stating the obvious. His entry to the final was a master class of grand slam tennis – especially the semi-final demolition of Roger Federer. The Swiss maestro may have recovered to force a fourth set but Djokovic’s performance in the first two sets was as close to perfect tennis as anyone could witness.
It is not as if the Serb had an easy passage to the fina, howeverl. The fourth round match against Giles Simon was a window of hope to all others as the Frenchman pushed Djokovic to the limit. But the way Djokovic finds inspiration when the chips are down makes him a special player to witness and a tough opponent to play.
Murray, meanwhile, started the tournament with a big question mark, saying that he would withdraw if his wife goes into labour earlier than anticipated. Credit to him, he hasn’t allowed that to distract his on-field performances displaying his top form to reach his fourth final at the Rod Laver Arena.
It didn’t appear that way, though, midway through his semi-final against Milos Raonic with the strapping Canadian mastering the points. But, Roanic had to succumb to a groin injury that hampered his movement and Murray was quick to pounce on the struggling Canadian to seal his passage to the final.
Djokovic leads the rivalry 21-9 and has completely dominated the Scot recently, winning ten of their recent eleven meetings. He is yet to lose to Murray at the Australian Open and all indicators point to one more win for the Serb. We are thinking the value here is to back Djokovic to win the title in four sets.
Prediction: Novak Djokovic to win in four sets - $3.50 at William Hill
