Novak tames Rafa in Qatar final

Having lost to Djokovic in last year’s final at Melbourne Park and in the 2011 and 2013 title-deciders, Murray is well aware he faces a huge task to overcome his fierce rival and win his first Australian title.

Speaking after his destruction of Rafael Nadal at the Qatar Open with both players saying afterwards that the Serb played ideal tennis the world No1 said he expected to play at the same level at the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, which starts next Monday.

He prepared for the first major of the season, which runs from January 18 to 31, by beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets to win the Qatar Open last week.

He ended 2015 as No1 for the fourth time in five years, and with nearly twice as many points as the second player, and took his record against top-10 opponents to 44-6 since the 2014 French Open. Djokovic has a chance to lead Nadal in their head-to-head for the first time ever.

Nadal, who was playing in his 99th career final, said he’s happy with his progress since coming back from a long injury layoff at last year’s Qatar Open.

Roger Federer, playing at the Brisbane Open in Australia, took a straight sets victory over Dominic Thiem of Austria to reach 17 consecutive finals. More importantly, it moved Djokovic level with André Agassi for the ninth most titles won in the Open era.

Djokovic has more of an upside, I believe, than the retired American great, though, after his own sixtieth trophy. Djokovic broke in the first game and held easily for 2-0.

While Djokovic would never use that as an excuse, he did breeze by Wawrinka in their next two matches in 2015.

The Briton has lost four finals in Melbourne – three to Serbia’s Djokovic.

He added: “For sure is important for me for my confidence, confirm that the end of 2015 season had been something realistic and this beginning of 2016 I am still playing well, so I’m able to already won four matches here and be in the final”.

“I’m very proud of the achievement and this particular stat, but I try not to think about what would happen if I would lose and not get to the final”. Later, post the match too Nadal zestfully said, “Well, I found a new coach too today”.

“When I say ideal, it’s not one thing in particular”. It was the platform he needed to win a thrilling Wimbledon final three weeks later.

Saturday’s (Sunday, NZT) one-sided affair saw Djokovic claim a 60th career ATP title, one of only 10 players to achieve such a feat.

In the second set, neither player could muster a break but it was Djokovic who took a commanding lead in the tiebreak to move into his first Doha final.