2011 Wimbledon Tennis Championships Men’s Final
#1 Rafael Nadal (-175) vs #2 Novak Djokovic (+130)
Sunday, July 3, 2011, 9:00 am Eastern, TV: NBC
All England Lawn Tennis Centre, Wimbledon, England
These two have been the top two players in world this year. Djokovic is 48-1 since last November with the one loss coming to Roger Federer in the semifinals of the French Open. Djokovich has beaten Nadal 4 times this year, though Nadal leads the overall series 16-11. This match has been anticipated all year, and many thought it would happen in the French Open Final before Federer upset Djokovic in the semis. Nadal and Djokovic have combined to win the last 5 Major tournaments, with Nadal winning the French Open twice and Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, while Djokovic won the Australian Open in January.Djokovic has been so dominant this year that he will pass Nadal for #1 in the rankings next week whether he wins or loses the final. It seems a little ridiculous that Nadal could win 5 of the last 6 majors and not be the number 1 player in the world, but the computer rankings count all tournaments equally. Djokovic has won 7 events this year while Nadal has only won 3.
The two have met 5 times in Grand Slam events with Nadal winning all of them. In fact Djokovic has only won one set in those five matches. The last time they played in a Grand Slam Final was in last year’s U.S. Open Final with Nadal winning in 4 sets. They haven’t played at Wimbledon since 2007 int eh semifinals.
Rafael Nadal has won 10 major tournaments in his career but 6 of those are at the French Open. He is going for his third Wimbledon title and he will join Bjorn Borg as the only players to win Wimbledon and the French Open in the same year 3 times. Djokovic has 2 grand slam titles but both are at the Australian Open. This is the first time he has ever played for the Championship at Wimbledon.
Nadal just turned 25 and is left handed. The Spaniard is 45-7 on the year. He injured his foot in his fourth round match against #24 Juan Martin Del Potro, and isn’t at 100%. Nadal beat #10 Mardy Fish in 4 sets. In the semifinals he dropped the first set to #4 Andy Murray before coming back to win in 4 sets. Nadal is averaging 40.6 winners, 7.3 aces, and only one double fault in the tournament.
Djokovic is 47-1 this season. He is 24 years old from Serbia he plays right handed. Like Nadal he has only dropped 3 sets in the tournament. He beat #32 Marco Bagdhatis in four sets in the third round, and beat #19 Michael Llodra in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarters, Djokovic beat unseeded Bernard Tomic in four sets. In the semifnals, he played #12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who upset Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. Djokovic won in four sets including two tiebreakers. Djokovic is averaging 33.6 winners, 9 aces, and 2.5 double faults a match in the tournament.
This match could go either way, as each are playing at or near the top of their games. Djokovic has seemingly had Nadal’s number this year, and has had more success against him than Murray or Federer have had. I wouldn’t be surprised if this match went the full five sets. I would like to pick Djokovic to pull off the upset and win his first Wimbledon title. However, injured foot or not, i just can’t pull the trigger and bet against Nadal on Centre Court. Nadal wins in 5 sets with at least one tiebreaker.
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