Thiem looks for chinks in Djokovic’s armour

Melbourne, Feb. 1: “King” Novak Djokovic has won all seven Australian Open finals he has contested, he is on a 12-match winning streak and will become world number one if successful in the Melbourne Park decider on Sunday.

Against those overwhelming odds, few are giving Dominic Thiem much of a chance to wrench the title from his iron grip and clinch a maiden Grand Slam.

But the Austrian, remarkably, is the one with the recent edge.

Djokovic is 6-4 in their career head-to-heads, but Thiem has won four of the last five. Three of those were on his favoured clay, but he also came from a set down to beat the Serb on hardcourts at the ATP Finals in November.

Djokovic is the first to admit that the slick 26-year-old has successfully refined his game over the past 12 months to compete on all surfaces.

And he acknowledges it is just a matter of time before Thiem wins a Slam.

“I don’t think he’s really anymore ‘next generation’. He’s been around for many years. Now already he’s an established top-five, top-10 player,” said Djokovic.

“It’s just a matter of one match here and there that can potentially give him a

Grand Slam title, that he can actually get in the mix of top three in the world,” he added.

Despite the platitudes, Djokovic, 32, is banking on adding yet another chapter to his storied Melbourne Park career, and heads into the match with an extra day’s rest after dispatching an injured Roger Federer in his semi-final on Thursday.

The world number two has been firing ever since arriving in Australia a month ago, and was unbeaten over six ATP Cup singles matches as he led Serbia to the inaugural title ahead of the Australian Open. “Yes, I’m pleased with the way I’ve been feeling and playing. I thought ATP Cup went really well for me, got a lot of hours spent on the court, singles and doubles,” said the 16-time Grand Slam winner.