Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will play each other for the 2013 Wimbledon title. It will be their fourth meeting in Major finals overall. Djokovic leads the series 2-1. The world number one took the first encounter at the 2011 Australian Open, Murray prevailed in the 2012 US Open encounter and Djokovic won this year’s final in Melbourne.
Novak Djokovic took his place in the Championship match beating an inspired Juan-Martin Del Potro who refused to go away, saving two match points in the fourth set before finally being outdone by the ever so solid Djokovic.
It was a classic match, one that will go down as one of the best ever Wimbledon men’s semi-finals. After losing a tight first set, Del Potro hit some of his huge ground strokes to break Djokovic and take the second set 6-3. In the third, the Argentine had chances to take the tiebreaker but a smash dumped in the net was all Djokovic needed to pounce and nab the third set and break away in the third. But Del Potro, his big serve and massive groundies down the line on fire, fought on, his love of the big match clear for all to see, and saved match points before taking the fourth. Credit must go to the Serbian top seed for staying positive and his never say die attitude saw him break Del Potro in the heart of the fifth. He never looked back, his second Wimbledon final ahead of him.
His opponent in that final, Murray, beat the Polish dark horse Jerzy Janowicz in four sets. It was the Polish man’s first last four appearance in a Major. Not that you would have known it from the way he played the first set, his huge serves setting up the short balls he glided to, knocking them away with volleys or dinking them over the net. The Pole took the first set and then, after dropping the second as his serve wobbled, shrugged off the laspse to lead 4-1 in the third.
At that point, he wobbled once more. And the experienced Murray was ready for him. A more aggressive Murray than the one who had the critics seething in the quarters broke back and then went to work on the Pole’s big match inexperience, cutting him down with his consistency and variety and coming in when the time was right to take the match in four.
Predicting the final is a hard one as while Djokovic’s career achievements far surpass those of Murray, on the day they practically cancel each other out. The two are often only separated by who decides to inject some risk-taking into proceedings; the match decided on whether or not the gamble was successful or not.
This being Wimbledon and played in the UK, one thing will certainly divide them: the home crowd. History will separate them, too. Djokovic is, after all, a former champion and the memories of that 2011 victory over no less than Rafael Nadal are not so far away and will surely be evoked come Sunday. Those memories will be as important in a battle of the minds as the muscle memory that allows Djokovic to play his very best when he is seemingly down and out.
It is this factor that might be the deciding one in this duel. The Serbian has greater self-assurance when the going gets tough, and the going will certainly be hard to chew in this encounter. Expect matters to be close and expect the crowd and Murray to do their best to see the All England Club get its first Scottish champion. But the more telling expectation we have is with Djokovic in Major finals, of which he has won 6 of 9. We have come to expect an uber-solid, self-possessed and, most importantly, mentally tough performance; the kind that should ultimately win out over Murray and the majority of the Center court crowd.
thetennisreview 
Leave a comment