‘Perfect’ Djokovic thrashes Nadal to win Qatar Open

World number one Novak Djokovic started his 2016 campaign with an easy Qatar Open final win over long-time rival Rafael Nadal in Doha on Saturday.

One and quarter of an hour later, Djokovic was sitting pretty with the Doha ATP title under his belt with an impressive 6-1, 6-2 win.

It takes the world No1 into the lead in this rivalry for the first time, 24-23, and his 60th title takes him into a special club the includes only the elite in this sport, with the likes of Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer and, of course, Nadal.

Djokovic was full of praise for Nadal in his post-match press conference, describing the Spaniard as one of the best to ever pick up a racquet.

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.

“I’m playing the tennis of my life and I will try to nurture and cherish those moments on the court”, he added.

The Briton has lost four finals in Melbourne – three to Serbia’s Djokovic.

The last time the Serbian failed to reach a tournament final was when he lost in the quarterfinals in last year’s Qatar Open.

“When I say ideal, it’s not one thing in particular”. If Djokovic dominates like he did a year ago, and Nadal’s struggles continue, I would not be at all surprised to see him surpass all these legends past and present come the season’s end.

Djokovic won the next game to go 5-1 up.

Tennis: Novak Djokovic will face Rafael Nadal in an epic final after both men won their respective semi-finals.

Nadal has not won a set in their last four matches, even at his former strongholds, Roland Garros and Monte Carlo.

A second milestone Djokovic achieved by winning the title match was winning his sixtieth title, tying fellow counterpunching great Andre Agassi at ninth in the all-time list. Djokovic reeled off six straight games to take the first set and also edged a see-saw second.

“The only thing that you can do is wait that the opponent is not playing like this all the time”.

“I’m not going to tell you too much, but it was tough in a way”, Federer said of his illness. “I am here to fight again and I am going go keep working so hard to be ready for Australia and the rest of the season”.

“From the beginning, I hit every shot the way I imagined I would hit it. Those two sets give me a great feeling”.

Djokovic has more of an upside, I believe, than the retired American great, though, after his own sixtieth trophy.