If the Miami Open is any indication, players are going to have an awfully tough time knocking out the world's top-ranked players on either side of the bracket. A day after Serena Williams kept her perfect 2015 going, Novak Djokovic captured his third title of the calendar year in a thrilling three-set match with Andy Murray.
The top-seeded Serb won 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-0, overcoming a stellar all-around performance from Murray, who looks vastly improved from this point a year ago. Djokovic overcame four double-faults and quite a few unforced errors in a match that became a war of attrition.
“We're talking about small margins,” Djokovic said coming into the match, per Simon Evans of Reuters. “That’s always the case when we play against each other. Very few points, details can decide a winner. We have very similar games."
Djokovic has now won the Miami Open five times, including each of the last two years. He is now one behind Roger Federer on the event's all-time wins list. Murray, who has taken the event twice, is now 2-2 in Miami Open finals matches.
Neither player was at the apex of his game on Sunday, and it especially showed early on. Both players dropped two break points in the first set before going to the tiebreak, where Djokovic found his rhythm just in time to take an advantage. The second set saw both guys fare far better on their serves, with Murray earning the only break of the set to tie the match at 6-4.
The third went back and forth between quintessential Djokovic dominance and Murray's trademarked willingness to fight for every point. Djokovic had an opportunity to break Murray 11 times alone in the third, though he converted only three. It proved to be more than enough as Murray's return game faltered, allowing Djokovic to close out the match in fine form.
While the third set was a bit of a letdown, it's hard to say anyone in Miami did not get their money's worth. Each set—and at points, each individual game—felt like its own match. The first set's service struggles became the second set's service dominance became the third set's walkover in favor of Djokovic. When two players know one another as well as Djokovic and Murray do, it's easy to see how they choose to adjust as the match goes along.
As has been consistently the case of late, though, Djokovic's adjustments were just better. He has taken seven straight head-to-head matches against Murray dating back to last year's Miami Open. Murray lost their Australian Open final this year in four sets and dropped their most recent matchup at Indian Wells in a straight-sets romp.
Then again, it's been hard for anyone to topple Djokovic all season. Sunday's win brings his 2015 overall record to 25-2, including a 23-1 mark since arriving in Melbourne. Given Rafael Nadal's struggles with his confidence and injuries, Murray's inability to get past Djokovic head-to-head and Federer's advanced age, it's hard to view anyone other than Djokovic as the favorite a month prior to the French Open.
Nadal has won the year's second major five straight times but is in the midst of a miserable 2015 campaign. He dropped his third-round match to Fernando Verdasco in Miami and hasn't looked right since the 2014 French. Outside a win at the Argentina Open, a relatively small-scale event where only one other top-20 player (Tommy Robredo) participated, Nadal has not gotten past a semifinal.
All ills for the Spaniard tend to be healed on clay, but Djokovic appears to be rounding into peak form. The French remains the only major preventing Djokovic from completing the career Grand Slam, having dropped finals to Nadal in 2012 and 2014.
"The highest priority is the French Open," Djokovic told reporters last month. "The French Open of course is the Grand Slam I've never won. But I've had a lot of good tournaments there. I played a couple times the finals there, got a step closer."
At the very least, Sunday's match with Murray proved what Djokovic is capable of even when he's not at his best. Fast-forward a month, and if Djokovic is still at this level, we may be talking about him finally capturing that elusive slam.
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