Novak Djokovic has yet to lose a set at the 2015 Australian Open. This year in Melbourne, Serena Williams has won more than half of her 12 sets played 6-2 or 6-0. As the no. 1 seeds in their respective draws, Djokovic and Williams were predicted as Australian Open finalists from the get-go, but as tennis fans we still hoped they’d face some difficult battles along the way. But let’s back up for a moment because both pros still have one match to go before they can reach the Australian Open finals. Here’s how MyTennisLessons thinks the best in the world will fare with two rounds left in the tournament.
Novak Djokovic
Semi-Finals
Djokovic will play the 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, whom he has defeated in tournament play 16 out of 19 times over the past 10 years. Wawrinka came out on top in the quarterfinals of last year’s Australian Open and in two smaller tournaments in 2006 (earning one of those victories because Djokovic retired in the first-set tiebreaker). Similar to Djokovic, Wawrinka has won all of his matches at this year’s Australian Open in straight sets, save for his fourth round match against no. 37 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez where he dropped the third set 6-4 and won the fourth set 7-6(8). Meanwhile, Djokovic has been forced to play a tiebreaker just twice this tournament. Both culminated first sets and after winning those he dominated the next two sets. While both men have played extremely well throughout this event, Djokovic has truly been unstoppable and indisputably has the ability to avenge last year’s Australian Open loss to Wawrinka.
Novak Djokovic highlights versus Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Australian Open.
Finals
If Djokovic wins his semi-final match he will play either Tomas Berdych or Andy Murray in the Australian Open finals. His win-loss record against Berdych and Murray is 17-2 and 15-8, respectively. Murray last defeated Djokovic when he won Wimbledon in 2013 while Berdych beat the world no. 1 in Rome earlier that year. Neither Berdych nor Murray has played a nail-biter at the 2015 Australian Open — Berdych has won all his matches in straight sets, including against Rafael Nadal, and Murray has dropped just one set in the tournament. Our prediction is that Berdych will beat Murray in five and then be pretty tired for his finals match against Djokovic.
Serena Williams
Semi-Finals
In the Australian Open semis, Serena will face the American who defeated sister Venus in the quarterfinals, world no. 35 Madison Keys. The 19-year-old entered the tournament unseeded and has upset top players Casey Dellacqua and Petra Kvitova, and her three-set win against 18th seed Venus was also a major achievement. Keys has never made it past the round of 32 in any grand slam, so making a run this deep at the Australian Open is an incredible feat. It must be all that great advice from her coach, former Australian Open champion Lindsay Davenport. How has the first-time semi-finalist fared against her older counterpart? Serena and Madison have never played each other in a WTA tournament, but in 2009, they faced off at a Mylan World Team Tennis match, where 14-year-old Madison claimed victory and made headlines. But here in Melbourne, we don’t think Serena’s going to let Keys get away with beating the Williams sisters back to back. She’s probably a little bitter about that loss six years ago, too.
Serena Williams highlights versus Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Australian Open.
Finals
In the other women’s semi-final match, 10th seed Ekaterina Makarova will take on Maria Sharapova. Makarova is 0-5 against her Russian compatriot, but shouldn’t be dismissed as an easy opponent for Sharapova. The 2014 U.S. Open semi-finalist has knocked out top-ranked players in straight sets throughout this tournament, including Roberta Vinci, Karolina Pliskova, Julia Goerges and Simona Halep. But Sharapova has had impressive wins in Melbourne, too, and after a near-loss to a qualifier in the second round, topped seeded players Shuai Peng and Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets, dropping only eight games combined. The Makarova-Sharapova match may just be the most exciting semi-final of the tournament, with Makarova having a good chance at finally beating the world no. 2. But despite the outcome, will either woman be able to get the best of Serena in the finals? Williams ended Makarova’s 2014 U.S. Open run with a crushing 6-1, 6-3 victory. That was only five months ago. And surprisingly, Sharapova hasn’t won but two matches against Williams, both of which came in 2004. Beating Serena isn’t impossible … if she’s not playing at her best. But as it’s been said time and time again, when she’s on, Serena is really on.
What do you think? Will Djokovic and Williams dominate the competition, or will we be surprised by our 2015 champions?
