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Andy Murray will have the chance to erase his Grand Slam heartbreak from last year’s Australian Open final and move one step closer to claiming the first Major win of his career when takes on world number one Novak Djokovic on Friday.
Djokovic secured the first Grand Slam of 2011 last year when he defeated Murray in the final, setting in process the finest 12 months of his tennis career as the Serb powered to further wins at Wimbledon and the U.S Open, while losing only six times across the whole year in the process.
While Djokovic enjoyed taking the glory in Melbourne to deny Murray once more and add further weight to claims the Scot struggles to perform his best in major finals, Murray in fact has the better record against his illustrious opponent, taking three finals against Djokovic compared to his opponent’s win last year, albeit in ATP Masters tournaments and not Grand Slam tournaments.
Murray has enjoyed perhaps his easiest route to the semi-finals having dropped only one set in the very first round of the competition against Ryan Harrison, including setting up a showdown against Djokovic with a straight sets win over Kei Nishikori, who hadn’t read the script by making it through to the last eight with a five set win over Jo Wilfred-Tsonga.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for Murray against the up-and-coming Japanese youngster as he was made to work harder than perhaps he should, while his first serve continues to be a cause for concern as it dipped below the 50% mark.
He will certainly have to address that issue if he is to convert his third successive semi-final into a second successive final appearance, although the omens are good- he is the ninth mean to achieve that feat and all previous eight men went on to lift the trophy at the end of the two weeks.
Djokovic nipped a potential banana skin in the bud as he fought back from losing the first set against Leyton Hewitt in the fourth round before cruising past David Ferrer in the quarter-finals, and he’ll be confident of moving into another final on what is his favourite service.
The two men have met eight times on hard court and have each won four games apiece, with all indicators pointing to a similarly close tie on Friday, with the winner of the other semi-final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal awaiting in the final.
Match Winner
The pair’s closely matched records on hard courts and Murray’s improvements under new coach Ivan Lendl means the outright winner market for the game is close, but it is Djokovic that just edges it.
The Serb is 1.50 (1/2) with SportingBet to make it to the final while Murray is temptingly placed at 2.90 (19/10) with Bet365 to gain revenge for his defeat against Djokovic in the final last year.
Set Betting
Murray’s and Djokovic may have met ten times in their career but they have only played each other once in a Grand Slam tournament – last year’s Australian Open final, and that only lasted three sets as Djokovic exerted his superiority.
Murray has improved since then while the end of 2011 for Djokovic was dogged by a back injury, making SkyBet’s offer of 7.50 (13/2) of a 3-2 Murray win increasingly tempting .
If the game goes with the form and Djokovic prevails, a 3-1 set victory for the Serb can be backed at 14.20 (6/5) with SportingBet.
Recommended Bet
Set Betting: 3-1 Djokovic, 4.20 (16/5) SportingBet
First set score: 6-4 Murray, 7.50 (13/2) Paddy Power
