Djokovic routs Nadal to win Qatar Open

Novak Djokovic has started 2016 in style after he thrashed Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-2 in the final of the Qatar Open.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during their quarter final match of the Brisbane International Tennis Tournament in Brisbane, Australia, 08 January 2016. With the Doha trophy on the line on Saturday, Djokovic was in cruise control from the start.

The last time that Nadal beat Djokovic was at the 2014 final at Roland Garros where Nadal won his ninth title.

Djokovic beat Tomas Berdych in the semis to reach the final against Nadal.

Things have changed since, however, with Djokovic maturing both physically and mentally to become what many people think is the best tennis player of all time. “I’m very excited to be back in the final – it’s special playing Milos again tomorrow”, Federer said. “These kind of matches and performances give me a great deal of satisfaction”. “It’s everything. If not, it’s not ideal”.

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. “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”. Already he has gone further than he did in last year’s Qatar Open, which incredibly was the only tournament in the whole of 2015 in which he failed to make the final.

Djokovic and Nadal are tied at 23 matches apiece in their career head-to-head.

Nadal won 100 percent of his first service points in the opening set, 89 percent overall, and allowed only one break point, which he held.

Clearly, Djokovic has owned the rivalry as of late, winning eight of the past nine matchups. The Spaniard dropped just four points on his first serve, saved the solitary break point he faced, fired six aces, no double faults, 16 winners against 13 unforced and was at no point out of control. “I want to stay injury-free, stay with my team and work hard and to improve my game and if I can do that the next goal in a way would be to be seeded at the grand slams so top 32 in the world”.

“Hopefully I will be able to just as well in Melbourne also”, he said.

“He played so insane with fantastic shots”, Nadal said of Kuznetsov via USA Today.