He may have lost out to his nemesis at Shanghai recently but Andy Murray acknowledges just how good Novak Djokovic has been so far this season as the race to London hots up.
“I think this year, he (Djokovic) has obviously played extremely well,” Murray said. “He’s found ways to win matches when he hasn’t been playing his best and I think that’s what all of the best players do and he’s done it consistently well this year.”
Murray and Djokovic have a long-standing rivalry – without animosity – at the very peak of tennis and over the years that has only grown as each player has progressed in their respective careers.
The pair have met 29 times so far, with Djokovic leading the battle well ahead by 20-9 and out of those meetings, 12 have been tour finals.
Grand Slam tournaments such as the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open have seen five Murray-Djokovic finals. From the 12 tour finals, neither man can be separated with both winning six each so far.
The five Grand Slam finals were the 2011 Australian Open, in which Djokovic won in three sets, the 2012 US Open, where Murray defeated Djokovic in a record-equaling match almost five hours long to claim his maiden Grand Slam title, the 2013 Australian Open with Djokovic prevailing in four sets, the 2013 Wimbledon Championships where Murray won in straight sets and the 2015 Australian Open with Djokovic again prevailing in four sets.
It may be a close rivalry, but Andy Murray is 11-2 with Coral to win the Australian Open this year and although he’ll have to get past Djokovic to do it, the 28-year-old will be hopeful of taking his first ever Australian title as the season begins next January.
Djokovic holds the edge over Murray when it comes to games on clay, having won all three but Murray has defeated the Serbian in their only games on grass, winning both. However, the Scot has had little answer to Djokovic’s domination on the hard courts, where he is losing 17-7 in career matches.
“Although I’m a long way behind Novak in the rankings right now, that can change a lot if a few matches go your way, the Grand Slam semi-finals and finals which are worth the big, big points. To make No.1 in the world I’ll need to win a couple of them. Hopefully I can do that next year.”
