RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE MONTREAL FINAL: DJOKOVIC VS. MURRAY

Written by: Staff on 16th August 2015

RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE MONTREAL FINAL: DJOKOVIC VS. MURRAY

A multiple exposure picture shows Andy Murray of Great Britain in action against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their men's semi-final singles match at the Rogers Cup Open ATP tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, 15 Aug 2015. EPA/ANDRE PICHETTE |

Ricky’s preview and pick for the Montreal final: Djokovic vs. Murray

By Ricky Dimon

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will be squaring off for the 28th time in their careers when they meet again in the final of the Rogers Cup on Sunday.

Djokovic is dominating the head-to-head series 19-8, but it was once not so lopsided. In fact, not too long ago (heading into the 2014 campaign, to be exact), it stood at just 11-8 in Djokovic’s favor. The Serb has since won eight in a row, including four this season. He prevailed in five sets at the French Open and Australian Open (with clinching set scores of 6-0 and 6-1) and got the job done at consecutive events in Indian Wells (6-2, 6-3) and Miami (7-6(3), 4-6, 6-0).

As those latter scores indicate, Djokovic has been unbeatable at the Masters 1000 level of late. His last such loss came to Roger Federer in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters during the fall of 2014. The world No. 1 has since triumphed at tournaments of this size in Paris, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Rome.

Serbian Novak Djokovic returns a ball to France’s Jeremy Chardy during their men’s semi-final singles match at the Rogers Cup Open ATP tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, 15 August 2015. EPA/ANDRE PICHETTE

Djokovic is on pace to lift yet another trophy, but his trek through the Montreal draw has not come without a struggle. In the quarterfinals against qualifier Ernests Gulbis, the top seed saved two match points en route to a 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-1 victory. He has also taken out Thomaz Bellucci, Jack Sock and Jeremy Chardy.

“Novak, at the moment, is the best,” Chardy said after going down 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday. “He returning really well and forces you to make a difficult choice all the time.”

Murray earned his place in championship Sunday with defeats of Tommy Robredo, Gilles Muller, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Kei Nishikori. The third-ranked Scot has not dropped a single set in the process while ensuring a return trip to No. 2 in the world when the new rankings come out on Monday.

“It’s nice to get back there,” Murray commented. “I did it the first time here. It’s nice to get back there, especially after everything I went through last year with the surgery and dropping out of the top 10, a lot of questions being asked about how my game was physically and stuff. It’s good to get back close to the top. I’ll keep working hard and try to get that one spot higher.”

Upsetting Djokovic would go a long way in that effort, both points-wise and mentally. However, little suggests Murray will be able to do that. He has faded against Djokovic on a consistent basis in their last five matches and the mental block in this head-to-head losing streak will be tough to get past.

Pick: Djokovic in 2

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

Topics: 10sballs.com, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Montreal final, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Rogers Cup tennis, sports news, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

August 16, 2015 at 8:51 am

-@Dimonator’s PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE #MONTREAL FINAL: @DjokerNole VS @andy_murray- http://t.co/cLvxfAXBEq #tennis #RogersCup #ATPMontreal