Djokovic v Murray - A New Rivalry

Tennis has been littered with epic rivalries over its long history. Some of the game’s greatest players have competed against eachother in matches that have gone down in legend. Just think of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Now it seems as though Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray can be added to that list.

Guests enjoying the outstanding Wimbledon hospitality packages or the first-class Wimbledon debenture tickets will be hoping to see the two stars clash at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships.

There is clearly great mutual respect between the pair, “He has a winning mindset,” Djokovic said of Murray. “He's a great fighter, great competitor and somebody that commits to this sport. You can see that on a daily basis. He has a great team of people around him. He puts a lot of hours in the practice, gym and so forth. It pays off. I know him for a long time, so it's great we are able to challenge each other.”

The pair have met 30 times with Djokovic holding a 21-9 record over the Scotsman. Their first professional meeting came way back in 2006 at the Madrid Masters, this match would set the tone for the rivalry with the Serb coming out on top in three-sets.

In 2015 the rivalry intensified with seven meetings in major finals and semi-finals around the globe. The first clash of the year came in the final of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the season. After a titanic battle in the opening two-sets the game was finely poised at 1-1, but Djokovic renowned for his stamina and power wore Murray down and took the match 3-1, finishing in style with 6-0 romp in the final set.

Murray speaks of his admiration for the World No.1 “I have a lot of respect for Novak as a tennis player.

“I've known him since we were 12, 13 years old. It's tough to be extremely close when you're playing in huge matches against each other on a regular basis. That's normal. But we get on absolutely fine. We were playing basketball together the other day. I get on well with Novak.”

After two Djokovic wins on the hard courts in America the duo next met each other in the semi-finals of the French Open at Roland Garros. This was a real classic and one of the best matches of the 2015 season. Both players produced some stunning shots with Djokovic raced into an early 2-0 lead.

But Murray showed his fighting qualities and took the game to a deciding set however Djokovic would have the final say making it through to the final.

The British star would gain some revenge beating his rival in the final of the Montreal Masters, which would prove to be his only victory over the World No.1 in 2015. But they are sure to add new chapters to this intense rivalry in 2016.