2016 Australian Open Men’s Singles Final
AUD$ ATP Ranking Points
Champion 3,400,000 2000
Finalist 1,700,000 1200
(1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. (2) Andy Murray (GBR)
Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 21-9
2006 AMS Madrid Hard (I) R16 Djokovic 16 75 63
2007 AMS Indian Wells Hard (O) SF Djokovic 62 63
2007 AMS Miami Hard (O) SF Djokovic 61 60
2008 AMS Monte Carlo Clay (O) R16 Djokovic 60 64
2008 AMS Toronto Hard (O) QF Murray 63 76(3)
2008 AMS Cincinnati Hard (O) FR Murray 76(4) 76(5)
2009 Miami-1000 Hard (O) FR Murray 62 75
2011 Australian Open Hard (O) FR Djokovic 64 62 63
2011 Rome-1000 Clay (O) SF Djokovic 61 36 76(2)
2011 Cincinnati-1000 Hard (O) FR Murray 64 3-0 ret. (right shoulder injury)
2012 Australian Open Hard (O) SF Djokovic 63 36 67(4) 61 75
2012 Dubai Hard (O) SF Murray 62 75
2012 Miami-1000 Hard (O) FR Djokovic 61 76(4)
2012 Olympic Tennis Event Grass (O) SF Murray 75 75
2012 US Open Hard (O) FR Murray 76(10) 75 26 36 62
2012 Shanghai-1000 Hard (O) FR Djokovic 57 76(11) 63
2012 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) RR Djokovic 46 63 75
2013 Australian Open Hard (O) FR Djokovic 67(2) 76(3) 63 62
2013 Wimbledon Grass (O) FR Murray 64 75 64
2014 Miami-1000 Hard (O) QF Djokovic 75 63
2014 US Open Hard (O) QF Djokovic 76(1) 67(1) 62 64
2014 Beijing Hard (O) SF Djokovic 63 64
2014 Paris-1000 Hard (I) QF Djokovic 75 62
2015 Australian Open Hard (O) FR Djokovic 76(5) 67(4) 63 60
2015 Indian Wells-1000 Hard (O) SF Djokovic 62 63
2015 Miami-1000 Hard (O) FR Djokovic 76(3) 46 60
2015 Roland Garros Clay (O) SF Djokovic 63 63 57 57 61
2015 Montreal-1000 Hard (O) FR Murray 64 46 63
2015 Shanghai-1000 Hard (O) SF Djokovic 61 63
2015 Paris-1000 Hard (I) FR Djokovic 62 64
Highlights of the last match played between the two:
What is in for Djokovic
Novak Djokovic enters the 2016 Australian Open final as the clear favourite to win the title. The Serb is defending champion in Melbourne, continuing in his bid to win a record 6th title in Melbourne, which would set the serb to equal Roy Emerson’s all-time record at the Australian Slam. Djokovic also tries to collect his 7th consecutive title on the tour, and most importantly his 11th Grand Slam title, equalling Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver in 5th place in the list for most major titles in history. Also, the Serb bids to become the first player since himself in 2011 to win three consecutive majors.
What is in for Murray
Murray seeks his third Grand Slam title (US Open 2012 – Wimbledon 2013) and first Australian Open title. Andy also tries not to become the first player to lose 5 finals in the same Slam without ever winning the title. Murray tries to become the first British player to win the Australian Open since Fred Perry in 1934.
The Head-2-Head
Taking a look at the head-2-head record between these two players it is clear that Djokovic has managed to put overall a dominance over Murray in the years. 21 matches won out of 30 for two players who are in the same generation and have risen to the top of their game at the same time, it is a quite uneven stat. On hard courts Djokovic has won 18 matches against murray, losing only 7 times. The last six times the two met on the tour – all in 2015 – the Serb has only lost one match, in three tight sets in the final of the Canadian Masters 1000 in Montreal. This will also be a re-edition of last year’s final in Melbourne, which was won by Djokovic in four sets by 76(5) 67(4) 63 60.
Clearly the two players know each other very well. While for Djokovic knowing Murray has however been an advantage, with the Serb finding increasingly efficient way to neutralise the Brit’s game, Andy hasn’t really ever changed his game in the many defeats he has faced against Djokovic. That explains that for Murray to win the tournament tonight, Djokovic will have to make sure not to play any close to his best and highest level.
Why Murray hasn’t been able to beat Djokovic very often?
It seems Murray’s game perfectly matches Djokovic’s with the Serb having all the time he needs to organise the rallies and grind the Brit. The Serb likes to outlast his opponents, to push them around the court, something he would do for as long as six hours, without ever feeling like he is not in control of the match. With Murray not using his weapons full power to take the time away from the Serb, it becomes unthinkable that Novak on a good day would ever end up losing to Murray. On open hard courts like the ones players compete in at Melbourne, both players like to stay on the baseline and play deep without taking too many risks. You would expect Murray to change his game plan after so many losses against Djokovic, but Andy has rather tended to use the same strategy he employs with other opponents, keeping the rallies long and going rather than cutting the points short and taking risks moving forward in the court.
It is not easy to change completely a game plan to adapt it just for another opponent. But if that opponent has beaten you before in Grand Slam finals more than once, than it becomes important to understand that a tentative would be worth it. If Murray will keep on playing like he has always done in the past against Djokovic, there are hardly few chances he could possibly win a match against the Serb at best of 5 sets.
Not even the best Murray ever seen on clay in 2015 managed to beat the Serb at the French Open, despite a tight 5-set battle in which he came back after losing the first two sets.
Will it be an entertaining final?
Obviously these two are currently the best tennis players on the tour, no doubts about that. Unfortunately however, clashes between Murray and Djokovic tend to follow the same path, becoming baseline battles with long rallies and very few different shots scattered here and there.
To predict this final will be as entertaining as a clash of styles would be it’s hard, but we really hope there will be points to remember and long moments of incredible tennis. The great majority of points will certainly be decided from the baseline, after more than 5 or 6 shots.
Who will win?
Djokovic should win the match in 4 sets, just as he did last year. Unless Murray decides to step on court with a new game plan. If the Brit manages to win the first set, then there is a chance the final could turn into a battle and Murray could win in 5 sets. Considering however how the Brit hasn’t changed much in his approach against Djokovic over the years, it will be unlikely he is going to start now with a major title at stake.
Djokovic should therefore win in 4 sets, with a very similar score to last year’s final in Melbourne.
