Australian Open 2019 Preview – January 27th, 2019 at 8:30 am
The expected final of the Australian Open 2019, the one that was pretty much expected from the start of the draw, is in place for Sunday. It will be current world number one Novak Djokovic facing up against world number two Rafael Nadal for the top honours at Melbourne Park.
Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal odds*
Novak Djokovic 10/13
Rafael Nadal 11/10
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 13th, 2019 at 11:27 pm)
Djokovic destroys Pouille
The levels at which both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have performed at during the Australian Open 2019 has been phenomenal. In the final four, Novak Djokovic was up against surprise semifinalist Lucas Pouille. This was a man who had just found ways to knock off a couple of top 20 seeds on his way to the final four. But did Djokovic have any trouble against him?
No.
Djokovic absolutely cruised dropping just four sets in a rapid-fire victory.
Djokovic certainly looked fresh and probably was feeling the benefits of having had his quarter-final match against Kei Nishikori ending early. Nishikori had retired in the second set. Djokovic is back in his eighth Australian Open final and he has never lost at this stage of the competition. He already holds the current Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles so will he be making it three Grand Slam haul on Sunday?
Nadal remains perfect
Nadal was the first of the two to book his place in the final so he will have had a day’s extra rest. Nadal was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas in his semi-final match. The Greek player had caused big upsets at the tournament including knocking out Roger Federer in the fourth round. But then a semi-final against world number two Rafael Nadal was just too much for him to handle. Nadal was clinically ruthless powering his way to a straight-sets victory, dropping just the six games in the match.
It has just been tremendous shows of power from these two. Nadal is looking for what would be his second only Australian Open title, this being the one Grand Slam at which he has produced the fewest career titles. Nadal has not dropped a single set throughout his Australian Open 2019 campaign, staying absolutely perfect in his defence. Will his rugged (and at times bewildering) levels of defence, help him get something out of this match against Djokovic? The bookmakers are expecting this to go long as over 3.5 sets is at 2/5 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 25, 2019, at 3:32 p.m.)
Head-to-head
So what of the head-to-head between the two from previous meetings? It is pretty tight between them. Djokovic leads 27-25 against the Spaniard. They have had some famous battles throughout their career and their most recent meeting was back at Wimbledon last year in the semifinals with Djokovic winning a deciding set 10-8.
It is Nadal who has won two of the last three meetings between them however they were both on clay. There has only been one previous meeting between Nadal and Djokovic at the Australian open and that was all the way back in 2012 with Djokovic getting the win in a deciding set.
Prediction
Both of these have the stamina both of these have the talent to go toe to toe and produce another epic game between them. Djokovic has dropped a couple of sets along the way to the final whereas Nadal has remained perfect. Is that an indication that the ball is in Nadal’s court?
Both have looked ruthless, but on the hardcourt it has to be Djokovic who takes favouritism and the way he has responded at this tournament when he has dropped a set has been staggering. He probably has enough to pull out the victory but he knows it will be an easy one.
We are leaning on a Djokovic 3-2 option in set betting at 5/1 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 25, 2019, at 3:32 p.m.) as there is very little to choose between the two.
