Murray hopes for drop-off in Djokovic ‘perfection’ at Melbourne Park

Novak Djokovic put in a “perfect” performance as he sealed a straight sets victory over Rafael Nadal in the final of the Qatar Open.

With Williams’ perch secure, questions begin right behind her. Maria Sharapova, who lost to Williams in last year’s Australian Open final, played sparingly down the stretch last season with leg and forearm problems.

If the sight of Novak Djokovic cruising to the Qatar Open title on Saturday was not troubling enough for his rivals, the world No. 1 has claimed he is more than ready to defend his Australian Open crown.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion knew he needed to lift his level to stall the onslaught. Agassi’s sixtieth was at age thirty five, during his last career surge that would include finalist appearances in Canada and NY, but not contesting another final thereafter. “It’s for every young player an incredible experience to play with the probably greatest of all time”, Thiem said.

Djokovic continued to apply pressure on Nadal, suffocating the Spaniard from the baseline with a ruthless display of aggression. “So hopefully till Australian Open it’s going to fade away”.

“I am fairly pleased with how I played in Perth”, Murray said. For Nadal had not won a title on this surface in 18 tournaments since winning in Doha two years ago.

Nadal refused to describe his match against Marchenko as flawless but it certainly appeared like it was from the stands. “For sure it’s important for my confidence, confirming that the end of the 2015 season had been something realistic and (in) the beginning of 2016 I (am) still playing well”.

Each of the Serb’s past four victories has also been in straight sets, not a positive sign for Nadal, who has said he is looking forward to 2016 being his comeback year. “Since I know this sport I never saw somebody playing at this level”.

Things would only get better for the World No. 1 after that, as Djokovic broke again to take a 5-1 lead with a service game of his own to wrap up the set.

Back in the days when Nadal was still sporting a muscle top and pirate trousers, Djokovic was simply an upcoming challenger to the Spaniard and the Queen’s Club was decked in Stella Artois red, these two played out a high-quality final in west London.

In a beautifully brutal 73-minute destruction, Djokovic not only defeated Nadal for the ninth time in their last 10 meetings to take a 24-23 lead in their rivalry, he barely looked stressed getting the job done. I am very grateful to have a start like this in Doha.