Tonight, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will play their quarterfinal match at the US Open tennis tournament. This match could be the best up until this part of the tournament, and tennis fans and experts are eagerly expecting it. Djokovic leads 12-8 in head to head matches (13-8 if we count one exhibition match), and he won the only match they played this season, in Miami, in straight sets, 7:5, 6:3.
However, Murray won two out of their three previous matches in Grand Slam tournaments, and both of them were in the final – US Open and Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam titles Murray has won up to date. Djokovic is in the better form at the moment, he took over Wimbledon from Murray this year, and as the number one on the ATP rank list, he is the favorite to clinch the title in USA too. Until the match against Tsonga in fourth round, Murray didn’t win against anyone from the top 10 this season, and the games he’s been playing in this tournament were probably the best he played all year. He lost only one set in this year’s tournament, and he could be up to a challenge in the match against Djokovic. However, in the match against Tsonga, the Frenchman had a break up in two sets, and he could convert it, because of the big amount of unforced errors. Murray played solidly from both ends, and he rarely makes unforced errors, so it is very hard to win points against him.
Having all that in mind, it is obvious that the outcome of the match depends on Djokovic. However, in their matches it is very hard to predict how things will unfold.
Djokovic started off with four victories in a row against Murray in the ATP tour. Most people believed at that time that Murray, who was often very nervous and could completely fall apart against the toughest opponents, would never reach his potential, and maybe not even ever get to beat Djokovic, but he responded fantastically, beating Novak three times in a row.
After Djokovic’s fantastic 2011 season, he was thought to be the next undisputable ruler of the ATP circuit, but after that, he lost his supremacy and even lost two Slam finals to Murray, who had a terrible record in the finals until then.
So, this match is very unpredictable. Djokovic is certainly a favorite, but in their match, current form doesn’t have to be a decider. It is entirely possible that the player in the better mood on the eve of the match will win.
