Novak Djokovic aims to avenge last year's US Open final defeat when he takes on Rafael Nadal on Monday night.
It's a repeat of 2010 all over again except this time Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite having owned Nadal on the tour this year. Twelve months ago, the Serb had the weapons but maybe not the belief he could unseat Nadal when it mattered most and was ousted 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
However the Djokovic of 2011 is a different animal and he has enjoyed unprecedented domination of the Spaniard, defeating him in Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid and Wimbledon. The last three wins were particularly significant - the back-to-back wins on Nadal's beloved clay put serious doubt into his mind and then at SW19, Djokovic proved he had what it takes to do the job over best of five.
Nadal has looked fairly dominant so far this fortnight, crushing Andy Roddick in the quarters and never looking in serious trouble against Andy Murray in the semis. However yesterday he made the startling admission that he doesn't feel he has a solution to Djokovic's game. The Spaniard's not really renowned for his love of pre-match mind games and after hearing that Djokovic will only be feeling more confident if that's possible. The world number one is on cloud nine after his Houdini-like escape to defeat Roger Federer in five sets.
Nadal's problem is that Djokovic has the ability to hit flat and hard off both wings and it's a combination he has little answer to at the moment. In particular Djokovic has a killer down the line backhand which hurts his rival frequently and his speed and gymnastic flexibility around the baseline makes it so hard for Nadal to get him off balance even with that ferociously kicking forehand.
The Spaniard's backhand has also looked suspect all summer and none of his opponents so far this fortnight have had to the game to exploit it. He's been landing it far too short up the court and he'll need to correct that to test Djokovic tonight but otherwise it looks like being a three or four set win for the top seed.
