Ricky Dimon’s pick for the 2015 Australian Open Tennis final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray

Written by: Staff on 31st January 2015

Ricky Dimon's pick for the 2015 Australian Open Tennis final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray |

The all-important question is which Novak Djokovic is going to show up for Sunday’s Australian Open final against Andy Murray. Will it be the one who struck more winners than errors in each of his first five matches (including a combined 80 to 33 in the fourth round and quarterfinals), or will it be the one whose semifinal showing against Stan Wawrinka (27 winners, 49 errors) should have sent him packing from Melbourne?

With Murray, on the other hand, you pretty much know what you’re going to get. He has been the most impressive player the entire way this fortnight, having been tested to the max only by Grigor Dimitrov before handing a bagel to a previously red-hot Tomas Berdych. The Scot has recorded a positive winners-to-errors ratio in each of his first six contests.

“I literally couldn’t have done anything more to put myself in a better position come Sunday,” Murray assured.

“I did not play on the level that I intended before the match,” Djokovic admitted after getting past Wawrinka. “There were parts of the match where I stepped in and played a game I needed to play, but parts of the match where I played too defensive and allowed him to dictate the play from the baseline. The level of performance was not where I wanted it to be.”

The top-ranked Serb’s level and the game he has needed to play, however, has always been there in Australian Open finals. He is 4-0 in title matches Down Under, having triumphed in 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Murray, on the other hand, is 0-3 in Aussie Open finals. He finished runner-up to Roger Federer in 2010 and to Djokovic in 2011 and 2013.

As those results indicate, the head-to-head history is not favorable for Murray. The No. 6 seed is 8-15 lifetime against Djokovic, including 6-13 on hard courts. Djokovic has won seven consecutive meetings on hard courts and is 12-1 in their last 13 hard-court sets.

For those reasons, you have to think it will be the Djokovic of previous years and previous rounds that will show up on Sunday.

Pick: Djokovic in 5.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Andy Murray, Australian Open, Australian Tennis, British Tennis, djokovic, Murray, Nole, Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis, Sports, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

January 31, 2015 at 9:56 am

@Dimonator ‘s pick for the 2015 @AustralianOpen final between @DjokerNole and @andy_murray http://t.co/3aI7cQ4a2M @NovakFanClub #nolefam
Dimonator says:

January 31, 2015 at 10:00 am

RT @10sBalls_com: @Dimonator ‘s pick for the 2015 @AustralianOpen final between @DjokerNole and @andy_murray http://t.co/3aI7cQ4a2M @Novak…
CristinaNcl says:

January 31, 2015 at 10:07 am

RT @10sBalls_com: @Dimonator ‘s pick for the 2015 @AustralianOpen final between @DjokerNole and @andy_murray http://t.co/3aI7cQ4a2M @Novak…
NovakFanClub says:

January 31, 2015 at 11:45 am

RT @10sBalls_com: @Dimonator ‘s pick for the 2015 @AustralianOpen final between @DjokerNole and @andy_murray http://t.co/3aI7cQ4a2M @Novak…
suebforever says:

January 31, 2015 at 11:46 am

RT @10sBalls_com: @Dimonator ‘s pick for the 2015 @AustralianOpen final between @DjokerNole and @andy_murray http://t.co/3aI7cQ4a2M @Novak…