Rafael Nadal To Meet Novak Djokovic In Wimbledon Final

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Rafael Nadal To Meet Novak Djokovic In Wimbledon Final
By Tripp Mateschitz, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Sunday, July 3, 2011 12:49am PST USA

LONDON-- Sunday in the Wimbledon final, the current world number one Rafael Nadal of Spain takes on Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who is set to top the ATP Tour World Rankings Monday.

The 25 year old Nadal, 51-7 this year, defeated the local favorite and fourth seeded Andy Murray of Great Britain 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals.

In January at the Australian Open, Nadal, slowed by injury lost to fellow Spaniard David

Rafael Nadal of Spain and Novak Djokovic of Serbia | Images: Getty

Djokovic holds four wins this year versus Nadal; while Nadal is yet to beat the Serb this year.

Ferrer 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals before rebounding to take his sixth career French Open title in June.

Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon champion, has only lost to four ATP Tour players this year: Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and Djokovic.

Djokovic, whose best Wimbledon finish is a 2010 semifinal showing, holds four wins this year versus Nadal; while Nadal is yet to beat the Serb this year.

The 24 year old Djokovic, 48-1 this year, stopped Tsonga in the semifinals 7-6(7-4), 6-2, 6-7(9-11), 6-3. Djokovic took the Australian Open title in January before suffering his only defeat of the year to Roger Federer of Switzerland in the French Open semifinals.

Head to head Nadal leads Djokovic 16-11. Nadal also leads 2-0 on grasscourts. However Djokovic has won the duos' last four matches.

In all four matches, Djokovic attacked early in baseline rallies to control more points than Nadal. The player who attacks more Sunday should also win. I think it will be Nadal.

However after sweeping the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open last year, Nadal has had few tournaments this year where he could gain ATP Tour rankings’ points.

Djokovic on the other hand has won 48 matches this year to gain enough points to pass Nadal for the number one ranking Monday regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s final.