Novak Djokovic d. Andy Murray (Australian Open 2013 Final)

History, history, history, everyone was talking about history before the Australian Open men's final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Both players had a chance to write their name in the history books, but at the end of the day it had to be one of them, and as the things unfolded, it turned out to be Novak Djokovic. Novak Djokovic became the first man in the open era to do a three peat at Australian Open, and in doing so joined Andre Agassi and Roger Federer as the holder of most Australian Open titles in the open era.

Image via australianopen.org

The match started in a typical fashion, both players holding their serves and forcing a tie-break. Djokovic started the tie-break with a double fault and never recovered as Murray won the first set in tie break 7-2.

In the second set, Murray had 3 chances to break Djokovic early on but Djokovic saved all of them to keep the set on serve. Both players held serve the rest of the way to force another tie-break, this time it was Andy Murray who faulted in the tie-break as Djokovic ran away to level the match at one set a piece.

Murray took a medical time out after losing the second set to treat blisters on his feet. From then on it was all Djokovic, as Djokovic broke Murray once in the third set and twice in the fourth set to claim his 4th Australian Open title and 6th Grand Slam title, 6-7 (2) 7-6 (3) 6-3 6-2.

Image via Australianopen.org

Djokovic won the match by doing two things, winning 66% points behind his second serve and holding his serve from the very start of the match till the end of the match.

Murray lost the match due to two reasons, winning only 46% points behind his second serve, and wasting all 4 break point chances he created.

By winning the title Djokovic also laid to rest the potential controversies that would have arisen had Murray won the title, challenging the ATP ranking system based on the fact that Murray has won 2 slams, and Olympic gold medal and is yet not ranked world no.1, while Djokovic is not a reigning champion of any grand slam and still no.1.

Just like Azarenka did yesterday, Djokovic proved that he is the one to beat, and it is not easy to go against him. For now on, Murray can go on as he has been having spectacular results in grand slams in that he has made the final of the last 3 grand slams, starting from Wimbledon.

First grand slam of 2013 has ended, with all the titles going to the top seeds, except the mixed doubles titles, making it the first time since Wimbledon 1997.

How do you see Djokovic's win? Do you see Andy Murray bouncing back to challenge Novak Djokovic, or will Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal bounce back to make it more competitive at the top?

Novak Djokovic vs Andy Murray (Australian Open 2013 Final)

History is on line for Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic as they face each other for 18th time in their careers. Djokovic leads Murray 10-7, but it was Murray who won their last encounter in a grand slam, the final of U.S Open.

Image via Optimumtennis.net

Murray has already made history by make it to the final of immediate grand slam post his maiden grand slam title, but will be looking for more to become the one and only player to win his second major in the slam after his maiden slam title. Djokovic will be looking to become the first man in the open era to do a 3 peat at the Australian Open, and in the process joining Andre Agassi and Roger Federer as the holder of 4 Australian Open titles.

Murray will also spark a series of controversial questions in case he wins the title, the queries which will question the legitimacy of the ATP rankings, since Murray will hold 2 grand slam titles, Olympic gold medal and will still be world no.3, while Novak Djokovic will be slam-less for the moment (not a reigning champion of any slam) and will be world no.1. But, let us wait for Murray to win the title to spark such debates.

Novak Djokovic has lost 3 sets so far in the tournament, while Murray has lost 2 sets. Djokovic's clinical performance in the semi-finals was an indication of his peaking at the right time, while Murray's win over Federer showed that he too is ready to claim big prizes.

Let us have a look a the performance of the players so far in the tournament.

Description	Djokovic	Murray
Aces	8	12
Double Faults	2	0
1st Serve %	66%	65%
1st Serve Points Won	80%	75%
2nd Serve Points Won	66%	53%
1st Return Points Won	34%	36%
2nd Return Points Won	57%	62%
Break Points Converted	49%	54%
Winners	39	34
Unforced Errors	26	27
Net Points Won	74%	72%

Djokovic has won 80% points behind his first serve, while Murray has won 75% points. Murray's second serve is vulnerable, so he will have to raise his first serve %age just like he didagainst Federer in his semi-final show-down. Djokovic is one of the best returner on the tour and has won 57% return points while returning the second serves of his opponents and if Murray gives Djokovic too many second serves, Murray will be in toruble. Murray has been broken 11 times so far in the tournament, while Djokovic has only been borken 8 times thus far in the tournament.

Image via fr.wikipedia.org

Djokovic played lights out in his semi-final against Ferrer and if that match is any indication, Murray will be in toruble against Djokovic. Murray has also been returning well, and has won 62% points while returning the second serves of his opponents. Djokovic had lazy starts in both his 4th round and quarter-final matches, but will be looking to stay sharp from the very start in the final.

Djokovic has been playing cleaner matches as compared to Murray, and will be hungry for the title, but Murray will also be as hungry as Djokovic. The only question will be who plays better on big points.

It will all come down to Murray's serve and both players nerves. Djokovic is better than Murray in both departments, and will be eager to clinch his 4th Australian Open trophy and 6th Grand Slam title.

Pick : Djokovic in 3 sets

Quotable Quotes - Australian Open Day 13

Novak Djokovic

On what he remembers about Andy Murray when he was 11 years old

“What was he like?  Well, I know he had a lot of hair, a lot of curly hair.  He was quite pale also (laughing).

But he got more sun I think over the years training in Barcelona.  He has more of a tan now than when he was a junior.”

Li Na

On when is she going to retire

“When I think I couldn't play, I will stop.  Because, I mean, you never know.  At least you have to see    I mean, at least you have to have a healthy body, otherwise no chance you can whole year travelling like this or play on the court. Maybe one day after wake up, I feeling, Oh, I'm tired.  I couldn't move anymore, I retire.”

On what did she feel, why she fell down

"Because I'm stupid (smiling)."

Victoria Azarenka

Q.  Was it difficult for you to get your head right going into the final, bearing in mind the talk of the last couple of days?

VICTORIA AZARENKA:  It isn't easy, that's for sure, but I knew what I had to do.  I had to stay calm.  I had to stay positive.  I just had to deal with the things that came onto me.  And that's pretty much it. I was actually really happy that I went through so many things knowing that I can still produce the tennis that I can and keep the focus that I can.  It just motivates me to be a better player.

Q.  Were you worried about the reception you might get when you went on court at the beginning?

VICTORIA AZARENKA:  Well, I was expecting way worse, to be honest actually.  What can you do?  You just have to go out there and try to play tennis in the end of the day.  That's what it was all about.  It's a tennis match, tennis battle, final of the Australian Open.  I was there to play that.

The things what happened in the past, I did the best thing I could to explain, to do everything I could, and it was left behind me already.  So when I went into the match, I was really focused on trying to play that particular match, the most important match of the tournament, That one thing that I just have to go and do, and that's it.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan

Q.  Have you set new numerical goals?

MIKE BRYAN:  Probably try to shoot for a hundred and cut it.

BOB BRYAN:  That would be cool to end on a round number.

MIKE BRYAN:  Has anybody ever ended on a round number like that?

BOB BRYAN:  Zero or a hundred?  (Laughter.)

On what is left to achieve from the record list they have been compiling

BOB BRYAN:  As far as records, there's not much.  But like we've told you before, we're competitors.  We hate to lose.  We want to finish No. 1. That's just the way I don't know.  That's just the way we are.  We set goals to get better, to improve, and to play well at these big tournaments.  That's why we'll be out here for the next few, three, four more years.

Victoria Azarenka d. Li Na (Australian Open 2013 Final)

What do you do when your favourite player rolls his/her ankle on court and falls down during the match? What do you do, when the same player rolls ankle again and falls head down and smacks his/her head into the court, in the same match?

Li Na and Victoria Azarenka walked onto the court today to fight for the Australian Open crown. The first set started with double of Li Na, and ended with the double fault of Victoria Azarenka, with Li Na clinching the first set 6-4.

Drama unfolded in the second set as Li Na serving at 1-3 30-15 rolled her ankle and fell down. She was unable to put any weight on her leg as she limped to her chair and called for the trainer to have a medical time-out. Her ankle got tapped and she walked back onto the court to win the next 2 points and hold her serve.

Li Na's best chance to get back on serve came in the very next game as she went up 40-0 on Azarenka's serve only to see Azarenka claw her back and hold her serve. Azarenka levelled the match at one set a piece when she held her serve at 5-4 to push the match into a 3rd and final set. 

The third set started in the same fashion, with Azarenka breaking Li, and Li breaking Azarenka right back and then holding her serve for 2-1. There was a break of 10 minutes at that point in time due to the fire-works scheduled for the Australian Day. Azarenka took that time to go off court with the trainer, while Li sat there occasionally glancing at the fire-works. The players returned to the court with Azarenka to serve, on the very first point, Li rolled her ankle again and went down as her head smacked into the court with a huge popping sound. Trainers rushed to the court, and as per Li's words "The head was touching the floor.  Two second I couldn't really see anything.  It was totally black."

However, it was the smile of Li in that moment of adversity that won her millions of more fans. As per Li "when the physio come, she was like, Focus on my finger.  I was start laughing.  I was thinking, This is tennis court, not like hospital.  She was like, Follow my finger, because I didn't follow.  I just watch the eyes.  She says, Follow.  I say, Why?  I'm okay.  Yeah, but, I mean, just in case to check everything on the court."

Li lost that game and got broken in the very next game, as Azarenka went up 4-2, both players held their serve and as Li served to stay in match she got broken again and lost the championship match for the second time in 3 years after winning the first set. Azarenka won the set, match and championship and retained her title and the top spot 4-6 6-4 6-3.

Azarenka proved herself and proved why she is no.1, she sensed her chances and took them when she had to. It was not a very solid play from the world no.1 but it enough for her to defend her title and retain her top spot.

Azarenka let the emotions flow after that as she wept and covered her face with towel, she then walked towards her box where she was greeted by her coach and her friend (or more than just a friend) Red Foo.

How do you see Azarenka's win and Li's loss?

P.S : The answer to the above questions are you lay down, get some sleep and get up and write a biased article to let out your anger, frustration and depression. 

Victoria Azarenka vs Li Na (Australian Open 2013 Final Preview)

Victoria Azarenka enters the match as the defending champion and probably the favourite for the title match. On line will be her title and the top spot.

Li Na enters the match in very hot form and with the passion and drive to win her first Australian Open grand slam. It is Australian Open where she has had the most success in her career.

Azarenka leads Li in their head to head encounters 5-4, having won the previous 4 encounters. However, it is Li who has won the pair's meeting sin grand slams, having won in 2011 Australian Open and 2011 French Open.

Azarenka has not faced a top 25 opponent so far in the tournament. The highest ranked player she defeated was Sloane Stephens in the semi-finals. This is not to take anything away from her, of course she can only beat the one who comes across the net, and it is none of her fault that all the top seeds in her quarter and half of the draw fell early.

Li, on the other hand has handled world no.4, Agnieszka Radwanska and world no.2 Maria Sharapova, in straight sets in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. She was particularly tested in her quarter-final win over Radwanska in the first set. The way Li played against Sharapova must make her feel good and confident about where her game stands.

Li has yet to drop a set, while Azarenka lost a set in her 3rd round win over Jamie Hampton.

Let us have a look at what do the numbers tell us about their game so far in the tournament.

The stats used have been average stats for the 6 matches played by players so far in the tournament.

Description	Azarenka	Li
Aces	2	3
Double Faults	5	3
1st Serve %age	70%	66%
1st serve points won	66%	64%
2nd serve points won	46%	53%
Net points won	72%	69%
Break points won	63%	70%
1st serve return won	48%	48%
2nd serve return won	74%	67%
Winners	21	21
Unforced Errors	22	27

The match will come down to a few things:

Serve and Return

Azarenka has been serving at a good 70% and has won on average 66% points behind her first serve. Li has been returning well, she has won 48% points while returning the first serve of her opponents. Azarenka is prone to double faults, and she has actually had more double faults than aces, averaging 3 more double faults than aces in her previous 6 matches. Azarenka's second serve has been poor, since she has won only 46% points behind her second serve, while Li has won 67% points while returning the second serves of her opponents. Azarenka will have to be very sharp and keep her first serve up to give as little chance to Li as possible.

Li has been serving at 66% and has won 64% points behind her first serve, Azarenka has won 48% points (same as Li) when returning the first serve of her opponents. However, Li will have to be very cautious on her second serve, since Azarenka has literally been gulping the second serves of her opponents winning 74% points when returning the second points of her opponents. Li has won 53% points on her second serve.

Winners- Unforced Errors

Azarenka has been playing cleaner matches as compared to Li, she a winners-unforced errors differential of -1, while Li has a -6 differential. The player who will keep her act clean will definitely have a greater edge than the other just like we saw in the quarter-final and semi-final wins of both Azarneka and Li.

Break Points conversion

Break points will be very crucial for both players, as we noted in Li Na's win over Sharapova, where Sharapova had a lot of chances to claw her way back into the match but she was unable to capitalise on those break point chances, so the player who strikes first and capitalises on her chances will definitely be in a better position to win the title.

Azarenka has shown nerves in her matches. She got tight against Hampton, she got nervous in the first set of her quarter-final match against Kuznetsova, she got nervous against Stephens and got broken when she was serving for the match and took a medical time out after that. Li, showed some nerves in her first set against Radwanska, and in the first set of her 4th round win over Goerges, but other than that she has been calm so far.

An important thing to note is Li is only 10-66 in matches that have gone to a third set in her entire career, while Azarneka is 64-66.

It will all come down to the serve and nerve. The player who handles both things better will stand a better chance.

Both players complimented each other:

"She is doing so well all year. Also, she is the defending champion. For me, nothing really to lose. Just really have to enjoy the match." said Li Na about Azarenka

"I think she is in incredible form right now really. You know in the finals anything can happen. It looks like she improved a lot. Will be a tough match, so I am really looking forward to it." Azarenka on Li Na.

I am tempted to pick Azarenka in 3 sets, but I love Li Na, and would love to see her winning the title, so I will leave it to you people this time.

Who are you rooting for and who are you betting on?

Quotable Quotes - Australian Open Day 12

Roger Federer

on whether his long quarter-final match had an effect on his performance today against Andy Murray

"He beat me fair and square tonight.  No regrets from me."

on Andy Murray's chances on Sunday:

"Obviously Novak goes in as the favorite, I would think, even though Andy beat him at the US Open. "

Q: You spoke earlier in the week about the good manners that exist between the players.  There definitely seemed to be a bit of feeling between the two of you after 6 5 in the fourth.  Can you talk about that.  Was there an exchange between you? 

ROGER FEDERER:  I mean, it wasn't a big deal anyway.  We just looked at each other one time.  That's okay, I think, in a three and a half hour match.  We were just checking each other out for bit. 

No, I mean, that wasn't a big deal for me.  I hope not for him.

Andy Murray

Absolutely loved Andy Murray for the responses.

Q.  How surprised were you by what he shouted when you were at the net at 6 5 in the fourth?  You had a funny look on your face at that point. 

ANDY MURRAY:  I mean, I wasn't that surprised.  I mean, stuff like that happens daily in tennis matches.  You know, in sport, the stuff that some people say on football pitches and in basketball and all sorts of sports.  I mean, it was very, very mild in comparison to what happens in other sports.  It's just one of those things.

Q.  Can you repeat what he said? 

ANDY MURRAY:  It's not relevant what he said.  You know, it doesn't really matter.  It's something that happens, like I say, all the time on tennis courts, in sport, all the time. 

Especially when it's a one on one sort of individual combat.  It's not relevant.  There's no hard feelings.

Q.  Was it a word that we might struggle to get in our newspapers?

ANDY MURRAY:  It's not relevant what was said, you know.  I'm sure Roger won't talk about it and I have no interest in discussing it either, because, like I say, it happens all the time. 

People will want to make a big deal of it and it isn't really a big deal.

Li Na

you have got to love the response of Li Na, shows true and pure feelings

On the first time she saw an image of herself on a billboard or on TV.

"I said, 'Okay, I know this girl!' But the first time I was a little bit afraid to look. That's when it felt real. The first big time was after the French Open - I was in Germany and I saw myself at the airport, I don't know if it was BBC or CNN or another news channel. The funny thing is, I had an economy ticket, but the people came to me and told me they saw I won the tournament, so I could move to business. It wasn't too bad!"

Andy Murray d. Roger Federer (Australian Open Semi-Final 2013)

Andy Murray walked onto the court today with the confidence of a grand slam champion and played lights out tennis to send the 4 time Australian Open champion, Roger Federer, home. From the very start of the match, Federer seemed to have a bad day at office with things not working his way, but all the credit to Murray who pushed Federer, anticipated well and came out on top at the end. 

Coming into the match, Federer had won 82% points behind his first serve but won only 73% in his semi-final match. He served at 61% and won only 42% points behind his second serve. Federer's serve which had been there in the first 4 rounds was not present there today.

Murray, on the other hand, did his part well, serving at 64%, and winning 75% points behind his first serve and backing it up with 63% points behind his second serve.

Where everything worked for Murray, nothing worked for Federer tonight, from his serve to his fore-hand, from his back-hand to his drop shot. Everything and every shot defied him. It was like Murray was playing Federisque tennis and Federer was playing Murrisque tennis.

Coming into today's match Murray had not won a match against Federer in 3 prior meetings, but it turned out to be 4th time lucky for Murray. Murray broke Federer to go up 2-1 in the first set and held the rest of the way to win the first set. The second set went all the way on serve till tie-break, where Federer showed his class and took the set in tie break to level the match at one set  a piece. Third set followed the pattern of the first set with Murray breaking Federer and holding his own serve till the very end.

Fourth set provided a lot of drama. Federer broke Murray to go up early, but Murray broke right away to bring the set back to serve. Serving at 5-all Murray broke Federer again to serve for the match, but nerves got the better of him as Federer broke him to force tie-break and once again the story of second set was repeated as Federer won the tie break to force a final set.

Murray started strong and broke Federer to go up 2-0 and held his serve to go up 3-0. Serving to stay in match at 2-5 Murray once again broke Federer to clinch the match and become the first man to make it to back to back grand slam finals after winning his first major. The final score being 6-4 6-7 6-3 6-7 6-2 in Murray's favour.

Murray hit 62 winners compared to Federer's 43, and hit only 47 unforced errors compared to Federer's 60. The winners-unforced errors differential says it all.

Federer goes home and will have time to think on things, while Murray moves on to face Djokovic in a U.S Open repeat final, won by Andy Murray. Andy Murray is closing on the gap between himself and Federer in the rankings and if he keeps the level going, Federer will soon be in trouble. However, on part of Federer it was great to see him stretch Murray to a fifth set, despite a bad day at office. All the credit to Murray for his master class performance.

To sum up the match, Murray did to Federer, what Federer used to do to Murray, giving him the taste of his own medicine.

P.S - I know all of you must be saying that this is biased report, I tried to keep neutral, but being a Federer fan, writing this report immediately after his loss is tough.