Australian Open: Finals Set

The finals are set for the 2011 Australian Open:

3) Kim Clijsters (BEL) vs. 9) Na Li (CHN)
3) Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. 5) Andy Murray (GBR)

First, for the ladies.

Clijsters is in her 8th slam final, where she has a 3-4 record.  However, all 3 wins came at the US Open.  She has made the Aussie Open just once before, where she lost to Justine Henin in 2004.

Li is in her maiden slam final, and it will be interesting to see if she can handle the nerves where several other players did not play well in their first finals.

This is the 7th meeting between Clijsters and Li, with Kim winning 4 and Na winning 2 of the previous matches.  Here are the results:

2006 Sydney R16 (hard):  Clijsters 6-3, 6-1
2006 Wimbledon QF (grass):  Clijsters 6-4, 7-5
2007 Sydney SF (hard):  Clijsters 6-1, 1-6, 7-5
2007 Miami R16 (hard):  Li 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
2009 US Open QF (hard):  Clijsters 6-2, 6-4
2011 Sydney F (hard):  Li 7-6, 6-3

Since Clijsters' comeback they have split two meetings.  Overall Clijsters leads 9-5 in sets.  But of course, they met just 2 weeks ago in the Sydney final with Li winning that in 3.  Clijsters 3-2 on hard courts.  This should be an entertaining match.  If Kim plays her best tennis I think she will win, but if has these momentary lapses i.e. Radwanska match, I think Li will take the opportunity and win her first slam title.  I'm going to out on a limb and say Li in straight sets, but really I won't be surprised by anything.

Now, for the men.

Djokovic will be competing in his 4th slam final, where he has a 1-2 record.  His one win was over Tsonga in the '08 Aussie Open.  His two losses came at the US Open, to Federer in '07 and Nadal in '10.

Murray will be contesting his 3rd slam final, where he is 0-2 record, losing to Federer twice ('08 US Open and '10 Aussie Open.)  We'll see if the result is any different without Federer on the other side of the net.

Somewhat surprisingly, this is only the 8th meeting between the players that been ranked 3 and 4 for most of the past few seasons.  In fact, they never met in 2010.  Novak has won 4 of the previous meeting while Andy has won 3.  Here are their past results:

2006 Madrid R16 (hard):  Djokovic 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
2007 Indian Wells SF (hard):  Djokovic 6-2, 6-3
2007 Miami SF (hard):  Djokovic 6-1, 6-0
2008 Monte Carlo R16 (clay):  Djokovic 6-0, 6-4
2008 Canada QF (hard):  Murray 6-3, 7-6
2008 Cincinatti F (hard):  Murray 7-6, 7-6
2009 Miami F (hard):  Murray 6-2, 7-5

Djokovic owned Murray early in their careers but Andy has come back to win the last three meetings.  But they haven't met in nearly 2 years and both have had roller coaster seasons since.  Djokovic leads in sets 8-7 (very close) and they are even on hard courts (3-3).  Djokovic has really improved his form beginning with the US Open and continuing through the Davis Cup.  However, Murray has been nearly untouchable in this tournament.  This has all the makings to be a classic final.  I'm going to go with Djokovic in 4 sets but I won't be surprised if I get up Sunday morning to find the match still going on.