A Djokovic-Murray final in the making?
Currently ranked as the world Number 2 on ATP rankings, Novak Djokovic is going through an exceptional run this season. His most recent achievement is the defeat of possible GOAT (Greatest of All Time) Roger Federer at the 2010 US Open semi-finals, and his
first appearance at the top level event since 2007, where he was runners up to Federer. His latest victory at the 2010 China Open is his comfortable win over unseeded Chinese player Mao-Xin Gong with a 6-1,6-3 drubbing. His next match is set against American
Mardy Fish.
Despite the fact that Djokovic still has another round to go before he even stands a possibility of competing against Andy Murray, the Serbian player seems upbeat and optimistic, already challenging Murray, who is the world number 4, to a final match with
the words, “Why not a final with Andy Murray? We have not played each other for a long time.”
Novak Djokovic is playing this tournament at the same arena at which he triumphed during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when he went home with a bronze medal. He felt very comfortable in the stadium, when he said, “It feels good to be back at a court where I've
enjoyed a lot success in the last couple years.”
His match against Gong was his first one after the US Open title match, and Djokovic seems obviously positive about his performance in the remaining matches, expecting to make it to the title match of the 2010 China Open. He will be defending his title from
last year, and seems exceptionally eager to play against Murray, as they are the two top seeds at this $2.5 million tournament.
Murray himself walked into the second round of the event and came out with a straight sets win over French tennis ace Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-2, 6-3. He did not appear even remotely affected by the jetlag which took a toll on his sleep cycle after he arrived
in Beijing, and he grounded the Frenchman with 10 aces and the help of Mathieu’s plethora of unforced errors. He also threw Mathieu off his game by breaking his serve four times. To add to this, the small crowd of Chinese fans were all sporting Scottish flags.
After a week of ill health, this is a spectacular comeback for the Scot. He was elated by his performance, commenting to reporters, “I served quite well today. I didn’t once get broken and served a lot of aces. I started the match well and didn’t give him
any opportunities except in the second set at 3-2. I think that was the only game where he had a couple of break points on my serve. It was a good first round.”
In the event that both top seeds make it past their upcoming matches – Djokovic will be playing Fish, while Murray battles against Spaniard Albert Montanes, who is the world number 24 at the moment – a final between the two players would be a treat for local
fans. Novak Djokovic enjoys a 4-3 career win record against Andy Murray. The last match between the players was played 18 months ago in Miami, where Murray defeated the Serbian tennis player.
Tags: