Where: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park, Melbourne
When: Sunday 31st of January, 7:40pm
Where to watch: Channel Seven
TWO familiar combatants clash in Melbourne for the first Grand Slam title on the tennis calendar.
For the second year running Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will meet on Rod Laver Arena to determine who will be crowned the King of Melbourne Park in 2016.
The two men found their semi-final paths to the final vastly different.
Novak Djokovic breezed past former champion Roger Federer in four sets.
The Serbian always seemed in control of the match as he crushed the former world number one to reach the final and another shot at immortality.
The current world number one proved why he is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all-time against arguably the modern era’s best.
Murray was lucky to escape the semi-final after prevailing against Milos Raonic in five sets on Friday night.
The Scot was down two sets to one but rallied back to take the final two sets in a spellbinding match that captivated the Melbourne crowd.
Had the Canadian Raonic not suffered a leg injury midway through the fourth set, we could have seen a Grand Slam final debutant, but it was Murray who progressed through to his fifth Australian Open final.
Former Grand Slam champion Pat Cash believes the longevity of the match will not negatively impact Murray on Sunday night.
“This match won’t have taken an awful lot out of Murray — the rallies weren’t that long.” Cash said.
“He was moving very well at the end and was playing confidently.”
Cash said that the world number two Murray will have learnt a lot from last year’s defeat at the hands of Djokovic and will use that to his advantage.
“He knows where he failed in last year’s final against Djokovic. He knows he must keep the pressure up and can’t afford any lapses. Last year he was at himself the whole time. He shouldn’t have been but he couldn’t stop himself and for his sake I’m hoping he has learnt the lessons from that and can control his emotions.”
Murray believes that even though he has reached the Australian Open final on four separate occasions before Sunday without hoisting the trophy; he will not let past defeats cloud his mind on Sunday.
“Five finals is a great achievement. You can’t take that away from me. There are very few players that will have made five Australian Open finals, so I have to be proud of that.” Murray said.
“When you get to the final you’re disappointed if you don’t win but I’ve played very good tennis here. I’ve given myself many opportunities to reach the finals … seven straight quarter-finals, as well.
“When you get to the final you’re disappointed if you don’t win but I’ve played very good tennis here. I’ve given myself many opportunities to reach the finals … seven straight quarter-finals, as well.” Murray said.
The world number one Djokovic has dominated against the world number two Murray in the past two years, winning 10 of 11 match ups between the pair since 2014.
Despite this, Murray is optimistic that he can overturn his poor record against the Serbian on Rod Laver Arena.
“I have a very good shot on Sunday if I play my best tennis. I need to do it for long enough to have a chance, I’m aware of that. I don’t think many people are expecting me to win. I just have to believe in myself, have a solid game plan, and hopefully execute it.
“It doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past. People like to read into what’s happened but Stan [Wawrinka] beat Rafa [Nadal] in the final here [in 2014]. I don’t think he’d ever won against him in 13 attempts. There’s no reason it’s not possible for me to win.”
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Match odds and Australian Open winner
Winner: Novak Djokovic – $1.20 with William Hill
Set betting: Novak Djokovic 3-0 – $2.20
Murray’s supreme confidence heading into Sunday should not fool punters, as the man has shown signs of his volatility spilling over onto the court and negatively affecting his game.
Djokovic is one of the most ruthless players on the circuit and will pile on the pressure from the opening service game – if he is able to take the first set comfortably he should go on to win in straight sets.
Expect Djokovic to start his 2016 campaign off in style with yet another Australian Open title.
Australian Open promotions
After launching their partnership with the Australian Open prior to the commencement of the tournament, William Hill have shown their Aus Open affiliation will give the punters a chance to get their hands on the cash.
The chase the ace promotion runs into the men’s final, with well over 3 million dollars refunded to punters over the course of the tournament.
