German tennis legend Boris Becker looks at where Andy Murray can gain advantage over his Serbian opponent and clinch his first grand slam.
Andy has to force the issue, because you cannot let Novak dictate the rallies. The goal is to control the centre of the court: whoever manages to do less running will come out on top.
If the final goes on and on, it could be to Andy’s benefit that Djokovic had to play on Sunday. Even though it wasn’t the toughest of outings, even though he got past David Ferrer in a couple of hours, there were a lot of long rallies and they could be psychologically draining.
Both finalists have similar games, with backhand wings that are incredibly secure, and a forehand side that can occasionally falter under pressure.
When they played in Melbourne in January, Andy used a heavy cross court forehand to disrupt Novak’s rhythm and force him out wide of the court.
It doesn’t work so well on the backhand, because Novak has that amazing ability to slide into a wide ball and slam it up the line. It really is a miraculous shot, because I never would have believed that anyone could slide like that on a hard court. He just defies gravity.
The Lendl factor
Ever since he partnered up with Ivan Lendl, Murray has been a better player, most importantly with his attitude and his approach in difficult situations. In the past, we all accused him of losing big matches because of his state of mind, not necessarily because of his tennis.
Now it’s all about the tennis. Andy has learned how to deal with his inner demons. In this tournament, he has come through even when he hasn’t been playing well, and that is the sign of a champion.
Take the quarter-final against Marin Cilic, where he came out looking very sluggish and lost the first set. In a situation like that, he doesn’t stop believing. He understands that even if you play badly, you only have to win three sets out of five.
Positivity
We all know that Andy was too passive in his early grand slam finals; he waited for mistakes from his opponents, and they aren’t going to happen when you’re playing a guy who’s already won six matches in the tournament.
Andy has sharpened up this year, but old habits die hard, and there have been sloppy moments. Even against Tomas Berdych, he sat back in the fourth set. Berdych was just one point, one lucky bounce, away from taking that into a fifth.
The lesson should have been learned from the Australian Open semi-final in January. Murray was leading by two sets to one, but then he seemed to think he could go back into a neutral gear and Djokovic would just lie down. That was a bad mistake, and it ended up costing him the match. When you smell blood, you just have to go for the kill.
Belief
Andy has had a couple of very solid seasons. He has been knocking at the door for a while now, reaching at least the semi-finals in seven of the last eight grand slams. I think the Olympic gold medal could make a difference to his belief, because he will definitely go out there feeling that he has delivered in a major final before.
As we saw on Saturday night, Andy is supported by Sean Connery and Sir Alex Ferguson. In fact he has many millions of Britons rooting for him. When he felt their support over the two tournaments played at Wimbledon this summer, he played better, and Ivan will remind him of that. Even though he is far away, he will know that the people at home will all be glued to the TV.
Momentum
These two guys are so evenly matched that, when they played their first grand slam final 18 months ago, we weren’t sure which one of them would kick on and make a push for world No. 1.
It turned out to be Djokovic. He improved his forehand, his mental tenacity and his physical endurance, and dominated the rest of the season. But he hasn’t been quite the same player in 2012. In the last few big matches — the French Open final, the two semis at Wimbledon — he has not managed to produce his best.
Being on a hard court makes this a totally different prospect. Djokovic hasn’t lost in a hard-court slam since Rafael Nadal beat him in the US Open final two years ago. But still, he is the man who is defending his position, while Murray is the one coming on strong. The momentum is on Andy’s side this year.
While Djokovic pumped up his forehand in 2011, Murray has done it this year, and he has also learned to produce his best at the pressure moments.
How many times at Wimbledon did he serve his way out of trouble?
Point for point, match for match, Novak has been the most solid player at this US Open. But you just have the feeling that all the work Ivan and Andy have been doing together will pay off soon. I hope Monday is the day.
7:00AM BST 10 Sep 2012
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