Australian Open Final Prediction: Djokovic Will Triumph

Australian Open Predictions: Day Fourteen, Nate

Two great semifinals lead us into an epic clash in the Championship. Andy Murray reaches his fourth Australian Open Final with a victory over Tomas Berdych. Novak Djokovic played another epic five set match with Stan Wawrinka, this time moving on to the final in search of his fifth title down under.

The two finalists are playing superb tennis. While questions about the superiority of the Big Four lingered throughout the tournament, the two members of the elite group who are playing the best tennis find themselves in the championship match.

Australian Open Predictions So Far:

average out of 32 – later rounds worth more

Geoff – 23, 26, 16, 24, 28, 24, 32, 32, 16, 16 = 23.7

Nate – 24, 26, 20, 26, 24, 20, 32, 32, 16, 16 = 23.6

Brandon – 25, 25, 18, 24, 20, 16, 24, 32, 16, 32 = 23.2

Nate Slaymaker’s Final Predictions

Novak Djokovic (1) d. Andy Murray (6)

The Australian Open rivalry between Djokovic and Wawrinka did not disappoint in their semifinal matchup. In the end, Wawrinka could not withstand the relentless onslaught from the world No.1. Djokovic was able to force his will in the fifth and final set, but he was not pleased with his overall performance.

“I’m proud of the fighting spirit that I had,” Djokovic said. “But the level of performance was not where I wanted it to be.” He will look to lift his level in his showdown tonight.

Murray’s semifinal win over Berdych was not as thrilling, but just as complete. Murray is playing the best tennis of his career, at least as solid as when he captured his two Grand Slam titles. This tournament should be extra motivation after he came off a troubling year filled with injuries and doubts.

Murray was very pleased with his effort. “I played very, very well tonight. Very happy with the way that I played the match,” he said.

The duel tonight should be thrilling. Djokovic holds a 15-8 lead over Murray in the career series and beat Murray all four times they played last year. They last faced off in a Grand Slam final when Murray won Wimbledon in 2013. Djokovic took the Australian Open that same year with a victory over, you guessed it… Andy Murray.

The rivalry is up there with some of the best in the game and the players know they need to bring their very best tennis.

“I’ll try my best on Sunday. I’ll go in with best tactics possible, prepare well, couple days’ rest, recover as best as I can,” Murray said. “All I can do is give my best. If it’s enough, great. If not, I literally couldn’t have done anything more to put myself in a better position come Sunday.”

Djokovic knows it will be a daunting task. “I’m in the finals,” he said. “In the end of the day, that’s why I’m here, to try to get far in the tournament. Getting to the finals in any way possible is a great achievement. I’m going to try to use that for build-up of the confidence for finals.”

In what is sure to be a match for the ages, Djokovic will be victorious in four sets, raising his fifth Australian Open trophy.

Next: ATP Tennis Power Rankings

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