Djokovic, Nadal to meet in Qatar final

Novak Djokovic easily beat Rafael Nadal in the final of the 2016 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, grabbing silverware in his first tournament of the year. I gave up [only] five or six break points in my matches and some of them could have been avoided. “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”.

Djokovic broke Nadal’s serve twice in each set, and saved the one break point he faced in the opening game of the match. Djokovic looked tired and needed treatment on a back problem but just when you thought an epic Nadal comeback was very much on the cards, Djokovic rediscovered his form and instead it was the Spaniard who fell away in the fourth set as his opponent wrapped up victory after four hours and 10 minutes of majestic tennis.

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.

Online bookmaker Sportsbet have Djokovic at odds of $1.67 to win the title once more, while the Serbian is also priced at $1.67 against the field ($2.10).

Throughout the week in Qatar he did not drop a set and his victory means he won the only tournament in which he didn’t make the final in 2015.

This marked his 16th straight final – and 12th title – since he lost in the Qatar Open quarterfinals past year.

It will be the pair’s 47th meeting, an ATP Tour record, with the head-to-head count now standing at 23 wins apiece. “So I just want to congratulate him and that’s it”, said the 29-year-old, who took home 105,940.

And if most critics picked Djokovic to win the title, few probably expected such a one-sided contest as this became, particularly after the Serb admitted in press that he had a slight problem in his serving arm.

Nadal last held the singles title in Doha in 2014, but in 2015 suffered a first-round exit to Germany’s Michael Berrer.

“[Mayer] started better in both the first and second sets”, Djokovic said, reports the ATP’s official website.

“I’m going to fight and I feel ready to fight, and I feel ready and excited about this fight and I hope to be closer”. 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.