Andy Murray booked his place in a second successive Australian Open final following his four set victory over David Ferrer.<\/p>\n
While Murray has looked solid throughout the tournament, the outstanding Novak Djokovic stands in the way of the Scot\u2019s Grand Slam dream having beaten Roger Federer in the other semi-final. The Serbian is chasing his second Aussie Open title and has had an extra days rest before Sunday\u2019s showdown.<\/p>\n
The head-to-head record stands at 4-3 in Djokovic\u2019s favour, although Murray has won the last three matches. Interestingly, the pair have never played a five set match against one another. Further encouragement for Murray is that the past two victories have come in ATP finals, in Miami and Cincinnati \u2013 both on the hard court.<\/p>\n
Murray has been fantastic at mixing up pace and spin on his way to the final and that is his best chance of success. In contrast, Djokovic will rely on his immense power that will test the Murray\u2019s defensive prowess to the limit.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s sure to be an epic finale and as Murray pointed out after his semi, both players are in pretty good shape. With little to separate them, the 2.08 available for over 41.5 games looks tempting.<\/p>\n
Outright, it\u2019s hard to go against the world number three. Beating Federer 3-0 will have given Djokovic all the belief he needs and will likely start the stronger of the pair given his extra recuperation time. Back Djokovic at 1.74 now as I suspect he might win the first set and shorten slightly.<\/p>\n