It will be Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Saturday.
Both players needed only two sets to get through their semifinal matches on Friday in Doha. Nadal ended Illya Marchenko’s run before Djokovic got the best of Tomas Berdych.
The second-seeded Spaniard got through Marchenko 6-3, 6-4 in just one hour and 17 minutes thanks in part to a convincing performance on serve. He faced–and saved–only one break point while serving at 70 percent and finishing with six aces and no double-faults.
“I did a few good things and I’m happy with the victory,” Nadal commented. “Being in the first final of the season in the first official tournament is something great. For sure it’s important for my confidence, confirming that the end of the 2015 season had been something realistic and (in) the beginning of 2016 I (am) still playing well.”
Nadal-Marchenko highlights:
Djokovic recovered from a break deficit in a third consecutive set en route to a 6-3, 7-6(3) defeat of Berdych. The world No. 1 trailed in each set against Leonardo Mayer on Thursday, so he was hardly flustered when the Czech raced ahead early. Djokovic came up with all the answers to prevail in one hour and 42 minutes.
This event marked the only occasion on which the Serb failed to reach a final in 2015, but lightning has not struck twice in Doha.
Djokovic falls, and embellishes it, in the first set:
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