Extra rest will help Djokovic

29/01/2011 | By More

Andy Murray booked his place in a second successive Australian Open final following his four set victory over David Ferrer.

While Murray has looked solid throughout the tournament, the outstanding Novak Djokovic stands in the way of the Scot’s Grand Slam dream having beaten Roger Federer in the other semi-final. The Serbian is chasing his second Aussie Open title and has had an extra days rest before Sunday’s showdown.

The head-to-head record stands at 4-3 in Djokovic’s favour, although Murray has won the last three matches. Interestingly, the pair have never played a five set match against one another. Further encouragement for Murray is that the past two victories have come in ATP finals, in Miami and Cincinnati – both on the hard court.

Murray has been fantastic at mixing up pace and spin on his way to the final and that is his best chance of success. In contrast, Djokovic will rely on his immense power that will test the Murray’s defensive prowess to the limit.

It’s sure to be an epic finale and as Murray pointed out after his semi, both players are in pretty good shape. With little to separate them, the 2.08 available for over 41.5 games looks tempting.

Outright, it’s hard to go against the world number three. Beating Federer 3-0 will have given Djokovic all the belief he needs and will likely start the stronger of the pair given his extra recuperation time. Back Djokovic at 1.74 now as I suspect he might win the first set and shorten slightly.