2015 Australian Open Men’s Final Open Thread: Novak Djokovic v Andy Murray
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The first men’s Grand Slam champion will be crowned Sunday night in Melbourne when good friend and rivals Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray meet for the 2015 Australian Open men’s title.
This is their 24th meeting with the Serb leading 15-8 winning all four last year. This is also their 5th in a Grand Slam final. Djokovic has won twice in Melbourne (2011, 2013), Murray at 2013 Wimbledon and at the 2012 US Open.
Djokovic also beat Murray in the semifinals in 2011. He is 3-0 against Murray in Melbourne.
“I know it’s going to be extremely difficult to win the match tomorrow,” Murray said on Saturday. “I know if I want to win, it will probably be very, very tough and challenging physically. So I need to prepare myself mentally for that. But he has a fantastic record here. He obviously loves the court and the conditions. And, yeah, it would be a big upset if I manage to win tomorrow.
“I’ve never won against him here before,” he said. “I’ve lost to him each time that we’ve played. I think I’ve lost to him the last four or five times we played against each other, as well. Maybe only won one set in those matches. Yeah, I mean, it would be a big turnaround. I played him a couple times very close the end of last year and lost pretty comfortably. For me it would be a big turnaround in a few months if I was able to win. I’m not saying it’s not a possibility, but it’s going to be very, very tough.”
ITF NOTES
NO. 1 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) v NO. 6 ANDY MURRAY (GBR)
Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 15-8
For 4 out of the past 7 years, the man who played his semifinal second has been the one who won the final, so recent history would suggest that Djokovic has the slight advantage in winning the 2015 Australian Open title.
Murray is bidding to end a 4-match losing streak against Djokovic and defeat the Serb for the first time since the 2013 Wimbledon final.
It will be the 5th meeting between these 2 players in a Grand Slam final which puts them in joint-3rd position on the all-time leaderboard for most match-ups in a Grand Slam final along with Andre Agassi v Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl v Mats Wilander.
This is the 3rd Australian Open final to feature Djokovic and Murray, which extends their lead for the most match-ups in the Australian Open final ahead of Jim Courier v Stefan Edberg (2) and Johan Kriek v Steve Denton (2).
Murray and Djokovic are the closest Grand Slam finalists by age. Murray is just 7 days older than Djokovic. The previous closest Grand Slam finalists in terms of age were Guillermo Vilas and Jimmy Connors who met at the 1977 US Open when Vilas was 16 days older than Connors.
Djokovic has a 13-6 win-loss record against Murray on a hard court.
4-time champion DJOKOVIC is looking to become the second man in history to win 5 or more Australian Open titles. Roy Emerson is the only man who has won more than 5 titles in Melbourne.
Djokovic is bidding to win his 8th Grand Slam title and move into equal-8th place with Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Fred Perry and Ken Rosewall on the all-time list for most major titles.
Djokovic is bidding to win his 8th Grand Slam title. He has a 7-7 win-loss record in his 14 previous Grand Slam finals and a 4-0 win-loss record in Australian Open finals:
3-time Australian Open runner-up MURRAY is looking to become the first man in the Open Era to win the Australian Open title after losing 3 finals. He finished as runner-up here in 2010 (l. Roger Federer), 2011
(l. Djokovic) and 2013 (l. Djokovic). Marat Safin is the only player to lose 2 or more Australian Open finals before winning the title.
If Murray wins the title for the first time on his 10th Australian Open appearance, he will set a record for most Australian Open appearances before winning the title.
Murray is bidding to become the first British man to win the Australian Open since Fred Perry defeated Jack Crawford in 1934.
SUNDAY AUSTRALIAN OPEN SCHEDULE
Rod Laver Arena 4:00pm Start Time
1. Mixed Doubles – Final
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)[3] vs. Martina Hingis (SUI)[7]
Daniel Nestor (CAN) [3] Leander Paes (IND)[7]
Not Before: 7:30pm
2. Men’s Singles – Final
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[1] vs. Andy Murray (GBR)[6]
LADBROKES ODDS
Novak Djokovic 4/9 v Andy Murray 7/4
WEATHERUNDERGROUND MELBOURNE FORECAST
Day: Windy with rain showers. High 67F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Sunday Night: Mainly cloudy. Low 59F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph.
U.S. TELEVISION
ESPN has live coverage of the Djokovic-Murray final starting at 3:30am ET Saturday morning.
POLL
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