Australian Open: Tsitsipas vs. Djokovic Preview, H2H, Odds, Prediction

Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas already have a history, and they are about to make it even greater. The two players from the Balkan peninsula meet in the Australian Open finals in Melbourne. They already had big clashes in the past, one of them in the Grand Slam finals, and for the moment, Novak has the edge when looking at that matter. The Serb is a favorite coming into this battle, but his opponent has been more than excellent so far, displaying compelling tennis. Tsitsipas’ part of the draw has been stronger than Novak’s and we are sure that the Greek has confidence coming into this event. 

Preview

Stefanos Tsitsipas (+380) is the no.4 in the rankings, one place ahead of Djokovic. Though we all know that the rankings have been disrupted by some, well, let’s say, problematic decisions from the past. But that won’t and can’t diminish his incredible rise in the past year. We all know that Tsitsi played good tennis, but over the past 12 months, we’ve seen him maturing and taking the game to another level. 

Tsitsipas has 13 victories in a row and is coming here fresh and better than ever. One by one, he beat Halys, Hijikata, Griekspoor, Sinner, Lehecka, and Khachanov, 3-1, who was the last victim in the semis. The Greek have lost three sets so far.

He was tested against Khachanov properly, reaching into some pretty nasty situations and even losing the third set via tiebreak. Yet that didn’t affect his mindset, which has been the problem in the past, maybe his biggest overall. 

Novak Djokovic (-500) was routine against Tommy Paul in the semis, 3-0, leaving the American in the dust early on. Though the No.35 in the ATP rankings did make a comeback following 1-5, yet lost the opening set, 5-7. After that, Novak had no mercy and quickly swept Paul.

Novak’s path to the finals has been easier than Stefanos’, with him beating Carballes Baena, Couacaud, Dimitrov, De Minaur, Rublev, and at last, Paul. 

The Biggest problem for Djokovic was his hamstring, with which he had issues in the early stages of the competition, and he even took medical timeouts against Couacaud. It was the only match at this AO in which Djokovic lost a set. 

Head to Head

Novak currently leads 10-2 in head-to-head encounters against Tsitsipas. The most recent game was at the Nitto ATP Finals in Italy, when Djokovic beat his rival in group stage, 6-4, 7-6. The Joker is currently on a nine-win row against Tsitsipas. 

They’ve met twice at Grand Slams, both times in Paris, once in the semis and once in the finals, and on both occasions, Novak was the winner. Tsitsipas lost a two-set edge in Paris two years ago. 

Prediction

Tsitsipas really performs well, and he can take a set or even two from Novak, but in our opinion, the Serb is the favorite in this case, and our pick is his victory. The odds on that are low, but if you want to make them higher, try with over 34.5 games in the match which is -160. 

Pick: Djokovic wins -500 or over 34.5 games -160