2015 Australian Open Men's Final Preview: Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Murray

     At 3:30 AM EST on Sunday, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will square off in the Men's Singles Final of the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic will be going for his 8th career grand slam title while Andy Murray will be going for his 3rd.

     Novak Djokovic is 15-8 all-time against Andy Murray, but it should be noted that in both of Andy Murray's grand slam titles at Wimbledon and at the US Open, he defeated Novak Djokovic in the Final.  More importantly, Andy Murray appears to be back to the form he was in when he won both of those grand slam titles. So while it is also true that Novak Djokovic has defeated Andy Murray four straight times, I think that Andy Murray has a much better chance of defeating Djokovic than he did in their previous four meetings.

     The key for Andy Murray will be to keep his cool out there and not let his emotions get the best of him. Before he won grand slam titles, Andy Murray always let his emotions get the best of him, and that cost him. In both of his grand slam championships, Andy Murray didn't let his emotions distract him. He stayed much more focused and in the moment. If he wants to win his third grand slam title, he'll have to do the same.

     Andy Murray will also need to hold his serve and really take advantage of every break point opportunity he gets. Break points and second serve points are always the most important points in tennis, and Andy Murray will have to out perform Novak Djokovic in both of those areas if he is to win Sunday's match. In addition, Murray will also want to be making a good percentage of his first serves given that Novak Djokovic has such a good service return. If Murray is taking too many second serves, that will definitely work to the advantage of Djokovic.

     As for Novak Djokovic, he too will want to win his second serve points and capitalize on break point opportunities. Specifically against Andy Murray, Djokovic will really want to win the points he has at the net. In matches against Andy Murray in which he came to the net a lot more, Djokovic didn't usually find success in terms of winning the match. If he's going to come up to the net a lot, Djokovic better win those points.

     Given his head-to-head record against Andy Murray as well as the fact that this is the grand slam where has had the most success, I have to pick Novak Djokovic to win this match. Andy Murray is playing really good tennis right now and I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see him win, but all the same, everything points to a Novak Djokovic victory in five sets. I hope it will be a great match!

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @atp_guy for tennis news