Djokovic to play Nadal in Qatar Open final

With great effort, Nadal retained his serve, but could do little when Djokovic served in the last game of the evening. Throughout the pair’s storied rivalry whenever Novak looked to be in the ascendancy Nadal has managed to find some fresh inspiration and push back in front.

Top-seeded Djokovic beat third-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-6 (3) to reach his 16th consecutive final Friday. “Let’s see what happens”.

There will come a time when Djokovic isn’t the best player on the planet, but it certainly isn’t here yet. You know, it’s different for us but I won the gold in London four years ago so to try and defend that is another big goal for me.

Djokovic, the number one seed, is the overwhelming favourite having won 21 of his previous 23 matches against the Czech and neither of those two losses were on a hard court as in Doha. He is going to play his 16th final in a single row.

His serve in the first set was nearly flawless, dropping just two points, and he appeared to be on course with break-point chances for another straight-set victory over the young Bulgarian – sometimes likened to him due to their similar styles – before Dimitrov rallied.

Nadal, who was competing in his 99th final, was bidding for his 68th tour-level title.

Djokovic, who served 75 percent, hit 30 winners and won 10 of 12 trips to net, has now reeled off 11 straight sets against Nadal since falling in the 2014 Roland Garros final.

Utterly dominant, the world No. 1 summoned three break points on Nadal’s opening service game yet, after squandering the first two, prompted the Spaniard into an awry forehand to break.

However, he held his serve and then won the next four games in typical fashion to take the first set.

“I’m ready for the competition”, Djokovic said.

Djokovic continued to apply pressure on Nadal from the baseline with a display of aggression.

Federer left his opponent and the center court crowd stunned as he charged to a 5-0 lead Pat Rafter Arena before encountering stiffer resistance from his 22-year-old opponent as the match progressed at the Australian Open warmup. Another rally in the fifth game resulted in another break in favour of Djokovic and he was already 4-1 up. “It was not a ideal win”.

“Maybe I am three weeks away, maybe I am five months away or six or nine, or maybe I am forever away”, Nadal said of winning a Slam.

“It gives me a great deal of confidence for the rest of the season”, Djokovic told reporters after his Qatar victory.

Wawrinka did have a distinct advantage in his French Open win over Djokovic past year.

“It would mean a lot [to win this year], just because of the number of times I’ve been close”, Murray said. Also the Olympics this year in Rio.