By Ros Satar at the ATP World Tour Finals, London
- World No. 1 and 2, Andy Murray & Novak Djokovic will do battle for the double-whammy – the season-ending finale and the year-end No. 1 rankings
- Djokovic has spent less time on court, and has an impressive record at this event
- Murray has been the in-form player since the grass court season, but will fatigue set in?
LONDON, ENGLAND – The final ATP tour level match of the season is upon us, and we have seen heart, domination, and determination from both players – but what do the numbers tell us?
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Head to Head
| Andy Murray | Novak Djokovic |
| 10 | 24 |
Friends since juniors, and born just a week apart, since the start of their professional careers Djokovic has looked the more dominant. Murray’s real breakthrough against his rival came in 2008, as he started to establish himself as a permanent fixture in the top 210, redressing the balance from 0-4 to 3-4 and for a time they kept pace with Murray of course winning two Slams at the expense of Djokovic. By the time they got to Wimbledon 2013 the H2H was 11-8 in Djokovic’s favour but from that point it was all one way traffic.
Djokovic had win consistently since Miami 2014 up to last year at the Masters in Montreal, when Murray finally snapped an eight match losing streak. Even then though, Djokovic racked up four more wins in a row before Murray stopped the rot in Rome. But the last hurrah went Djokovic’s way at the French Open. There Murray had tough battles en route to the final – which may have taken their toll by the time the final rolled round. Murray has been on court 9 hours and 57 minutes, while Djokovic’s path to the final has taken him 6 hours and 33 minutes. If this goes the distance, the fresher legs may be a factor.
Advantage: Novak Djokovic
Titles History
| Andy Murray | Novak Djokovic | |
| Titles (2016) | 43 (8) | 66 (7) |
| Slams (2016) | 3 (1) | 12 (2) |
While Djokovic is far and away the most trophied of the two, including two Slams this year alone, Murray has edged him on titles this year, including four in a row in the latter half of the year – Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna, Paris and now into his first World Tour Finals end-game.
Djokovic said, after his rout of Kei Nishikori in the semi-final: “He’s had 20-plus matches won. He got himself out of trouble today because of that confidence.”
But Djokovic is aiming for a sixth season-ending title, and his fifth straight title on these courts, and he himself has won 22 of his last 23 matches at the World Tour Finals.
Advantage: Novak Djokovic
Year to Date W/L Record
| Andy Murray | Novak Djokovic | |
| All surfaces W/L | 77-9 | 65-8 |
| Hard-court | 47-6 | 47-5 |
This brings things a little closer, but really in terms of those tournaments Djokovic skipped through his elbow injury. On hard courts there really is not much to separate them save one additional loss for the Brit.
Deuce
Match Stats 2016
| Andy Murray | Novak Djokovic | |
| Tie-Breaks (hard court) | 25-4 (17-3) | 19-4 (14-3) |
| Deciding sets (hard court) | 19-6 (10-3) | 9-1 (6-0) |
Tie-breaks
When it comes to playing the vital points well, Murray has a slight edge in the tie-breaks and came through two extremely vital ones in his semi-final against Milos Raonic.
Deciding Sets
Murray has been pushed to three sets rather more often this year but has found a way to won over two third of them. Djokovic has looked the more dominant though whenever an opponent has been impertinent enough to take him to a decider.
Deuce
Tournament Stats
Serve/Return
There really is not that much between them in terms of serve and return games – a few percent at most, but most tellingly Djokovic is just that bit more efficient on his percentages of points won behind his first and second serves, and in terms of making the most of his break point opportunities.
Murray edges him in terms of aces, his points won behind his second serve and has generally hit more winners, but then having been on court three hours longer, is that really a surprise.
Deuce
Murray and Djokovic will play for the season ending title and the World No. 1 rankings at 6pm GMT.
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