Miami Sunday Briefing - Men's Final

© Getty ImagesMurray and Djokovic face off in a repeat of the 2009 final.

• Only one player has beaten Novak Djokovic twice since he became the World No. 1 after Wimbledon, and that’s the player who will stand in between him and the Sony Ericsson Open title on Sunday.

• Novak Djokovic may not have the perfect start to the year he had last year, defending his Australian Open title but falling in the semi-finals of title defenses at Dubai and Indian Wells; but he has looked very strong as he tried to defend this title these last two weeks, not dropping a set in five matches so far here. Djokovic is playing in his 44th career ATP World Tour level final (29-13 mark); he is playing in his 18th career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final (10-7 record). Djokovic is going for his third Sony Ericsson Open title, having won it in 2007 and 2011; only two men have won this title three or more times before, Andre Agassi (six times) and Pete Sampras (three times). Djokovic is trying to become the first back-to-back winner since Federer in 2005-06.

• Andy Murray has rebounded well from an opening round loss at Indian Wells a few weeks ago (and opening round losses here in Miami the last two years), going all the way to this final. He has had a somewhat strange route to this final, rallying from a set and a break down to beat Janko Tipsarevic in the quarter-finals and receiving two walkovers (No. 26 Milos Raonic in the 3R, No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the SFs). Murray is playing in his 33rd career ATP World Tour level final (and is 22-10 mark); he is playing in his 10th career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final (and is 8-1 record).  Murray is going for his second Sony Ericsson Open title, winning it in 2009 (d. Djokovic). Murray is 7-12 against World No. 1s, but is better at non-Grand Slams (6-7 at all other events, 1-5 in Slams); all seven of his wins over World No. 1s have come on hard courts (two over Djokovic and Federer, three over Nadal); he also holds the distinction of being the only man to beat Djokovic twice since the Serb became No. 1 on July 4, 2011 (Cincinnati final last August, Dubai semis in Feb.).

• Djokovic leads the overall head-to-head, 7-5, but Murray has won five of their last eight meetings (Djokovic won their first four meetings) and they are also tied on hard courts, 5-5 (Djokovic 2-0 on clay).

ROAD TO THE FINAL (Opp. ATP Rank)
(1) Novak Djokovic (SRB #1)
1st Rd: bye
2nd Rd: d. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP #42) 64 64   (1:31)
3rd Rd: d. (27) Viktor Troicki (SRB #27) 63 64   (1:25)
4th Rd: d. (17) Richard Gasquet (FRA #17) 75 63  (1:39)
QF: d. (5) David Ferrer (ESP #5) 62 76(1)   (1:53)
SF: d. (21) Juan Monaco (ARG #21) 60 76(5) (2:03)

(4) Andy Murray (GBR #4)
1st Rd: bye
2nd Rd: d. Alejandro Falla (COL #71) 62 63   (1:16)
3rd Rd: d. (26) Milos Raonic (CAN #26) w/o  
4th Rd: d. (13) Gilles Simon (FRA #13) 63 64   (1:46)
QF: d. (9) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB #9) 46 63 64  (2:38)
SF: d. (2) Rafael Nadal (ESP #2) w/o  
WHAT’S AT STAKE –
Winner:  $659,775 and 1,000 South African Airways ATP Ranking points
Runner-up: $321,990 and 600 South African Airways ATP Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY –
Djokovic: Appearing in his 44th ATP World Tour level final……………….He is 29-14 in finals
   Appearing in his 18th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final…….He is 10-7 in finals

Murray: Appearing in his 33trd ATP World Tour level final………..……..He is 22-10 in finals  
   Appearing in his 10th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final…....He is 8-1 in finals

SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS –

(1)Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs (4) Andy Murray (GBR) Djokovic Leads 7-5
06 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Hard R16 Novak Djokovic 1-6 7-5 6-3
07 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells  Hard SF Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-3
07 Sony Ericsson Open - Miami  Hard SF Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-0
08 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo  Clay R16 Novak Djokovic 6-0 6-4
08 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard QF Andy Murray 6-3 7-6(3)
08 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (USA) Hard F Andy Murray   7-6(4) 7-6(5)
09 Sony Ericsosn Open – Miami  Hard F Andy Murray 6-2 7-5
11 Australian Open (Australia) Hard F Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-2 6-3
11 ATP Masters 1000 Rome  Clay SF Novak Djokovic 6-1 3-6 7-6(2)
11 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati  Hard F Andy Murray 6-4 3-0 ret
12 Australian Open (Australia) Hard SF Novak Djokovic 6-3 3-6 6-7(4)  6-1 7-5
12 Dubai (U.A.E.) Hard SF Andy Murray 6-2 7-5

 Andy Murray Novak Djokovic
 Sets Won: 14 16
 Tiebreak Sets Won: 4 1
 Match Wins By Surface:
 Clay: 0 2
 Hard: 5 5
 
DJOKOVIC FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 24-year-old reigning champ enters with an 11-match winning streak here and a 23-4 career mark and has not dropped a set en route to his third career final here, opening with a 64 64 win over Marcos Baghdatis, and following with a 63 64 victory over countryman/No. 27 Viktor Troicki, 75 63 over No. 17 Richard Gasquet , 62 76(1) over No. 5 David Ferrer and 60 76(5) over No. 21 Juan Monaco
• Has held serve 45 of 50 games (90%), saving 24 of 29 break pts. (83%)…Trying to become third player with three titles here – Agassi (6) and Sampras (3)
• Last year he came in No. 2 and defeated  No. 1 Nadal 46 63 76(4) in the title match
• He won the title in 2007 (d. No. 2 Nadal in QF, Murray in SF, d. Canas in F) and was runner-up in ’09 (l. to Murray)
• En route to last year’s final, dropped only 18 games, posting wins over Denis Istomin 60 61, wild card James Blake 62 60, countryman/No. 16 Viktor Troicki 63 62, Kevin Anderson 64 62 and No. 14 seed Mardy Fish 63 61…In his five matches, was not broken in 40 service games (saving 13 break points)

2012 Highlights:
W: Australian Open (d Nadal); SF: Dubai (l Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Isner)

2012 in Review:
• The World No. 1 enters his second final of the season with a 19-2 match record and he’s looking to win his first title since defending Australian Open crown on Jan. 29…Has a 10-7 mark in ATP Masters 1000 finals and 29-14 in his career
• In his last tournament in Indian Wells, lost in the semi-finals to John Isner 76 36 76, who fired 20 aces
• His best result was winning fifth career Grand Slam title (third in a row) at Australian Open (d. Murray and Nadal in back-to-back five-setters in SFs and final)…His 5:53 marathon victory over Nadal was the longest final in Grand Slam history
• Since the beginning of last season, has compiled an outstanding 89-8 match record (70-6 in 2011)
• Prior to Indian Wells, reached the semi-finals in Dubai on March 2, falling to No. 4 Andy Murray
• This is the 39th consecutive week the Serb stands No. 1 (since July 4, 2011 after Wimbledon title) in the South African Airways ATP Rankings
 
MURRAY FASTFACTS

Tournament Highlights:
• The 24-year-old British No. 1 has a 13-5 record in Miami, with his best results the title in 2009 (d. No. 3 Djokovic)  and the semi-finals in 2007 (l. to No. 10 Djokovic)
• En route to the final, has dropped one set, opening with a 62 63 win over Colombian Alejandro Falla, receiving a walkover vs. No. 26 Milos Raonic (ankle), defeating No. 13 Gilles Simon 63 64 and No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic 46 63 64…Then had W/O vs. Nadal…Has broken opponents 13 of 31 games (42%)
• When he’s won 2R match, has gone on to reach SFs or better…Lost in opening round in 2006, ’08, ’10 and last year (last three after a bye)

2012 Highlights:
W: Brisbane (d Dolgopolov); F: Dubai (l Federer); SF: Australian Open (l Djokovic)

2012 in Review:
• The Scotsman enters his second final in five tournaments with a 17-3 match record on the season… He opened the campaign by capturing his 22nd career ATP World Tour title in Brisbane (d. Dolgopolov) and followed with a semi-final at the Australian Open, falling in five sets to eventual champion Novak Djokovic
• He is appearing in his 10th career ATP Masters 1000 final (8-1 mark) and last year won titles in Cincinnati and Shanghai…Overall is 22-10 in ATP World Tour level finals
• Earlier this month, he was runner-up in Dubai (l. to Federer) after defeating World No. 1 Djokovic in the semi-finals…Has seven career wins over No. 1 ranked opponents (d. Nadal three times and two over Djokovic and Federer)
• In last tournament in Indian Wells, lost in the opening round to Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

ATP WORLD TOUR MASTERS 1000 TITLE LEADERS – Djokovic and Murray are among the Top 10 career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title leaders (since 1990):

 No.  
1) Rafael Nadal 19
    Roger Federer 19
3) Andre Agassi 17
4) Pete Sampras 11
5) Novak Djokovic 10
6) Andy Murray    8
    Thomas Muster   8
8) Michael Chang   7
9) Six players with   5