Djokovic ‘at level never seen before’, says Nadal

Earlier Nadal also won in two sets but in a more straightforward fashion, beating Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko 6-3, 6-4 in little over an hour. Where he went for power in the first set, he started slicing his serve further outside in the second, handing him a huge advantage in the rallies. It also coded the pattern of play in which the world No. 1 brandished 30 winners to his opponent’s nine to come out victorious in the 2016 season opener.

Novak Djokovic felt he delivered a performance “as close to perfection as it can get” when thrashing Rafael Nadal to claim the Qatar Open title in Doha. Well, of course Nadal would say Djokovic is at the higher level, that’s because Djokovic, unlike Federer, causes all sorts of problems for Nadal.

“I’m hoping that I can actually peak and play as well as I did today in Melbourne”, Djokovic told reporters.

It was Nadal’s worst showing against Djokovic as the Spaniard only won a total of 3 games in the one-sided final. Djokovic grabbed the 2-0 lead on the back of his eighth point in the last 10 played.

Nadal fought hard to make the match competitive but was unable to control his service games, while Djokovic’s ability to change the direction of the ball from the baseline repeatedly caught the world No. 5 off-guard.

Despite being broken four times, second-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win against Andrey Kuznetsov of Russian Federation.

“And knowing that across the net you have the player that you played against the most ever in your career adds more importance to that final”.

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. “From the beginning, I hit every shot the way I imagined I would hit it. Those two sets give me a great feeling”. Nadal has not won a set in their last four matches, even at his former strongholds, Roland Garros and Monte Carlo. This is the first time I lead head-to-head (smiles).

At 24-23, Djokovic holds a career edge against the Spaniard for the first time. Nadal managed to contain the damage and pull level at deuce, but Djokovic eventually pulled ahead, despite a challenge from Nadal.

The Australian Open kicks off on January 18. “Both of us have to go through a lot of emotions before a match”.