Djokovic beats Nadal to win Qatar Open

Djokovic ended 2015 as the clear world no. 1 after collecting three of the four grand slams and begun 2016 by demolishing Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-2 in the Doha Final last week.

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.

The win also edged Djokovic in front in his head-to-head battle with Nadal with a 24th win in 47 matches. Nadal, after being ordered around the baseline by the world No.1, ensured a successive break would not be on the cards when he rallied to win only his second game of the last ten.

“It’s for every young player an wonderful experience to play with probably the greatest of all time”, Thiem said. “My thoughts are only directed to Melbourne and what I need to do there”, asserted Djokovic, who will be bidding for his sixth title Down Under.

He also held the advantage in the rallies, where Nadal struggled to put distance on his shots and push Djokovic out of the court.

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

Djokovic was brilliant throughout and his victory was so comprehensive it will send a message to the rest of the tennis world that he aims to dominate exactly as he did in 2015 when he won three of the four majors. “With the arm, you know, with the serve”, Djokovic said on Friday after his 6-3, 7-6 (3) semi-final victory over Tomas Berdych. The Serb was forced to save break point after Nadal had produced a series of sumptuous forehands that were unsettling the Serb, but Djokovic, whose exertions in Qatar this week have been characterised by laborious starts, held firm to to take the first game. Even before that match, Djokovic had won four straight. “Since I know this sport I never saw somebody playing at this level”.

The world’s top women tennis pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis started the New Year on a brilliant note by clinching the women’s doubles title of the $1 million Brisbane International at the Queensland Tennis Centre on Saturday.

The Serb broke Nadal’s serve twice in each set, and saved the one break point he faced in the opening game of the match.

Nadal managed to hold serve in the next game, but Djokovic finished things on his own serve in the next game, finding his 30th victor to grab his first trophy of the year. “They would be the two main ones for me”, he added. “I came out on the court with the right intention, right intensity, and with a great deal of confidence I carried from the last season”.