Djokovic Crushes Nadal in Qatar to Win ExxonMobil Open

Rafael Nadal of Spain (left) greets ExxonMobil Qatar Open champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia after the singles final at the Khalifa Tennis Complex in Doha on Saturday.

Although Nadal held his next serve, Djokovic served out to win the game and seal victory i n their 47th ATP World Tour meeting – and go 24-23 ahead.

Djokovic won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open past year and narrowly missed out on a calendar Grand Slam when losing to Stanislas Wawrinka in the French event at Roland Garros.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will renew their rivalry in the final of the Qatar Open.

Nadal has won 67 career titles, including 14 grand slams. He converted his third break point in the opening game of the second set and secured another break to all but seal the match at 4-1. “Nobody is invincible. But I’m playing the tennis of my life, and I will try to, you know, nurture and cherish those moments on the court”.

Rarely can the current world number five have been beaten so easily and he cut a forlorn figure after the match as he waited for the presentation ceremony.

The world number one is yet to drop a set in his three matches so far.

Banging an ace to close an immaculate set of shot-making, Djokovic delivered 16 winners against just four unforced errors blitzing through the opener in 31 minutes.

It was a commanding performance that will infuse the world No. 1 with confidence when he plays for his sixth Australian Open title later this month.

“Last year he [Djokovic] had an incredible year, [reaching the] final of every tournament bar one throughout the year which is extremely hard to do”.

He tried to remain upbeat immediately after the defeat saying he had made “a positive start to the season” before adding that Djokovic had played “at a level rarely hard to imagine”.

Prior to this tournament, he had never taken a set off a top 10 player, but as well as beating Ferrer, the amiable Ukrainian also saw off France’s Jeremy Chardy and Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili, both well above him in the rankings.

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

The 28-year-old beat a hapless Nadal 6-1, 6-2 with a level of tennis rarely seen, even by the Spanish great, who described Djokovic’s game as “perfect” and “stratospheric”. Having finished at 1.47am local time, it was fitting that during the presentation ceremony chairs were brought onto court for both players to enjoy a well-deserved sit down.