1. The Australian Open Final 2014
Rafael Nadal v Stanislas Wawrinka
This year’s Australian Open final brings together a serial Grand Slam winner; Rafael Nadal (1.21
YouWin), against a Grand Slam debutant; Stanislas Wawrinka (6.0 Sportingbet). Nadal has never lost
to Wawrinka in twelve previous meetings, thus making the World Number One the overwhelming
favourite.
When following their head to head meetings, there is only one winner on Sunday. Nadal has not only
won the previous twelve meetings, but has also yet to drop a set against Wawrinka. Furthermore,
Nadal has beaten his Swiss opponent seven times on a hard court, with two of his wins coming just
last year in Shanghai and the ATP World Tour Finals. What is also noticeable, especially in Shanghai,
is Wawrinka’s ability to stay competitive with Nadal in the first set, however when unsuccessful,
Wawrinka’s level seems to drop. The only positive that Wawrinka can take from their previous head
to head meeting is the fact that he should have won in London, just two months ago, losing in two
tight tie-break sets.
Arguably, Nadal has enjoyed a much easier passage through to his 3rd
Australian Open final. The
highest seed to fall to Nadal was Federer, a player whose style matches up perfectly to Nadal’s.
Having breezed through his opening three matches, Nadal had to battle against both Nishikori and
Dimitrov in order to advance, even though he never at one stage looked like losing in either match.
Undoubtedly the one factor that may give Wawrinka encouragement when looking at Nadal’s run to
the final is Nadal’s troubles with blisters on his hands. It caused Nadal to drop a set against Dimitrov,
but looked untroubled with it against Federer. Can Wawrinka take advantage of this unlikely minor
injury?
Wawrinka’s run to the final started with two injury withdrawals in both the first and third rounds. He
was impressive against Robredo, and upset the odds against both Berdych and most notably defeating
the clear tournament favourite, Djokovic, producing some magnificent tennis. It is this standard of
tennis that Wawrinka must bring to Sunday’s final.
In order for Wawrinka to be successful, he needs to continue to serve well and try to limit his amount
of unforced errors, whilst also being very aggressive. Throughout the tournament, Wawrinka has a
first serve percentage of 59%. It is a percentage that needs to improve even if he has hit an impressive
62 aces in just 4 and a half matches. Nadal will also look to use his heavy topspin forehand to dictate,
looking to force Wawrinka back into his single-handed backhand corner. However Wawrinka does
have the potential to counter-act this play, as he possesses undoubtedly the best single handed
backhand in the game at present. He has the potential to hit winners off of both wings, but must stay
patient against Nadal who will make him play 2-3 consecutive good shots to win the point.
Nadal is looking to make history by becoming the first man in the open era to win all four grand slams
at least twice in his career. With his previous grand slam final experience to draw on and his
outstanding record against Wawrinka up till now, Nadal should win in three straight sets, or possibly
in four.
Tip:- Nadal to win in four sets (3.8 Winner).