Familiar foes Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are set to face each other again on Saturday in Shanghai. The winner will go up against either Rafael Nadal or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the title match.
It will be a battle between the top two players in the world when Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray meet for the 29th time in the semifinals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Saturday.
The head-to-head series stands at 19-9 in favor of Djokovic, who has won eight of their last nine encounters and four of five in 2015. This week’s top seed prevailed in the Australian Open final, the Indian Wells semifinals, the Miami title match, and the French Open semis. Murray, however, finally turned the tide and took their most recent showdown 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to triumph at the Canada Masters.
Both players are–as usual–in outstanding form at the moment. Djokovic is 15-0 in his last 15 matches with titles at the U.S. Open and in Beijing. So far this week he has defeated Martin Klizan, Feliciano Lopez, and Bernard Tomic in straight sets. The world No. 1 is 71-5 on the season and 22-3 lifetime in Shanghai.
Murray is an awesome 17-2 for his Shanghai career, boasting a pair of titles in addition to one runner-up performance. He booked his spot in the last four by getting past Steve Johnson, John Isner, and Tomas Berdych. The second-ranked Scot is 16-2 in his last 18 matches dating back to the start of Montreal.
A 6-1, 6-3 beatdown of Berdych that required only one hour and 19 minutes was especially impressive on Murray’s part. But the Czech allowed Murray to be on the offensive from start to finish and was unable to turn defense into his own offense. Nobody does that better than Djokovic.
The buildup to the U.S. Open is never Djokovic’s favorite time of year, but the Asian swing is where he is often most dominant. Count on order being restored to this head-to-head series.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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And that’s it, not much over the hour. Congrats Nole – just too good, even without a multitude of second serves to clamber all over.
So much for thinking Murray was going to beat Novak. I guess Novak is still the man to beat right now.
Murray seemed to wake up the wrong side of the bed! What a beatdown, worst than what I thought! Too bad he couldnt bring that performance yesterday to this match. Novak didnt need to do much imo, just kept the ball in play and Murray would soon make an error.
Well, that has been the case for most of the year. Nole never seems like having to do much to get the win!
I would like to point out one thing though. Nole really came out all guns firing. Never seen him play that aggressively in a long time.
The only area where Muzz could have been better was his serve. Even then he would have lost in straights. That’s how good Nole was today.
Yep. I guess only a player like Stan, when his game is on and could fire from both wings CC and DTL and hitting with power,precision and depth, could harm Novak. Of course on clay a top form Rafa could do the job. Murray maybe on grass when in top form and Fed on the quicker surfaces and BO3.
I do feel Novak is like Rafa, both can be vulnerable to big hitters who could move well and hit with precision. I remember Delpo causing Novak so much problems at Shanghai 2013 final, he’s a player similar to Stan except maybe not moving as well .
We need all these players to play well at the same time, if not Novak can’t be stopped!
lucky,
Thanks for the summation. I did not see that match either. I will have to watch it later. But from what people are saying, maybe it won’t be that enjoyable to watch.
I really thought Murray would play well enough to push Novak.
Well, all I have to do is look back at my comment here @11:55 pm. The last two sentences, where I said I am not taking anything for granted. Rafa had to beat Tsonga. That’s so true. You just never know.
Great stuff from the world # 1.
I guess you can’t pick against Novak during this part of the tennis year. I said at the beginning of this tournament that I thought only Fed might have a shot to win this, but he got knocked out in his first match.
not an easy victory for nole. could’ve gone the other way as well.
What match did you watch?
Yesterday I said Nole has not looked all that formidable this week but I hoped Rafa would not be taken in by his gamesmandship. I’d foolishly overlooked he has seven gears.to go through instead of the usual five before he gets up to full speed.
“gamesmandship”. what ?!?
As far as I am concerned, there’s no gamesmanship with Novak. What I think is happening, is that he kind of saves himself and then goes up another few gears in the semis and finals. That’s just being smart. If he doesn’t have to kill himself to beat players in the early rounds, then so much the better for him. He seems to almost have it down to a formula.
I thought he might be somewhat mentally strained and bit tired. That might not be wrong. It’s just that when it’s all the line he is able to play his best.
I never thought so.
I suspect it’s just wishful thinking. The same thinking I used to pick Murray.
^You do have a point! 🙂