Resumption of the Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal rivalry will get an earliest possible start in 2016, as they are set to square off at their first tournament of the year. The Doha title will be at stake when Djokovic and Nadal meet again on Saturday.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will be squaring off for the 47th time in their careers when they clash in the final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Saturday.
The head-to-head series is all tied at 23-23 following Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-3 victory in the semis of the World Tour Finals. Nadal was once borderline dominant in this rivalry, but Djokovic has turned the tide in a major way to draw level. The Serb has won four in a row and eight of their last nine encounters. Nadal has not defeated the world No. 1 on a hard court since the 2013 U.S. Open title match, a span of five such matches.
While both players were considerable favorites to reach this final when the draw was revealed, neither did so with complete ease. Djokovic delivered consecutive 6-2, 6-2 destructions of Dustin Brown and Fernando Verdasco before things got trickier. The top seed recovered from a break down in three straight sets, beating Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 7-5 and staging a first-set comeback against Tomas Berdych to prevail 6-3, 7-6(3).
Nadal survived a pair of three-setters, outlasting fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 and Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. The fifth-ranked Spaniard also scored wins at the expense of Robin Haase (6-3, 6-2) and Illya Marchenko (6-3, 6-4).
“To be back in a final is always a great feeling, especially the first week of the season,” Nadal assured. “For sure (it) is important for me for my confidence, (to) confirm that the end of 2015 season had been something realistic and this beginning of 2016 I am still playing well, so [I’ve] already won four matches here and [am] in the final.”
“I guess it’s a pretty important match tomorrow; let’s see what happens,” Djokovic said following his semifinal victory over Berdych. “It’s been a long rivalry. It’s an exciting challenge for both of us.”
Although Nadal has not been a challenge for Djokovic of late, the 14-time major champion was a shadow of his real self throughout 2015. This one should be far more competitive than their four most recent showdowns, but Nadal is not quite ready to turn the rivalry back in his favor–at least not on this surface.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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Keep calm, stay focused, remain confident, be strong and fight bravely, Rafa!
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What’s with the cats?
Stay focused, keep your mind sharp, be confident and show your warrior spirit, Rafa!
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Nole 24 Rafa 23
well said!
I subscribed to tennistv for 24 hours just to see this final.
Let’s go Rafa!
What’s tennis tv? Is this not showing up on tennis channel?
nope. It has been on bein sports all week.
But you have to get that channel on your cable tv.
atul,
No, the tennis channel hasn’t shown Doha all week. The only way to see it in the stats is to subscribe to tennistv. You can go to their site and check it out. I signed up for a 24 hour subscription for $9.99
It’s the only way to see the match.
Yes, Rafa moving into the court to take that DTL forehand early for a winner. That’s the way to do it!
BP for Rafa!
CC backhand from Novak and he saves break point. Deuce.
BP squandered
Rafa’s forehand firing early in this match. Good stuff from Rafa, moving into the court and being aggressive.
At least Rafa is putting pressure on Novak’s serve early in this match. Good to see!
Djoker holds somehow
Novak hits an ace to hold serve.
Okay Rafa, now it’s your turn!
Hmmm…..will tennis TV also show the Australian open?
atul,
I don’t know. I don’t subscribe that often. Only when the tennis channel isn’t showing the matches.
Ricky did say that if you have Bein on your cable tv, they are showing it. But I don’t have it.
Rafa hasn’t hit a first serve and now it’s 0-40.
Novak too good and gets the break.
Tough start for Rafa with those chances to break Novak.
Rafa hit another brilliant DTL forehand to make it 0-15.
Novak looking sharp so far. Just blasting his groundstrokes.
dire from Rafa so far. Dire.
Good start
This is the one thing that I don’t think Rafa could afford, getting broken early. Then Novak just starts teeing off. Novak holds easily.
3-0 Novak.
Rafa playing into Novak’s hands. Novak redirecting the ball at will, Rafa’s FH cant match Novak’s BH but Rafa keeps hitting to Novak’s BH, not going to work.
The way to work is to hit DTL from both wings the way Stan does. Rafa cant break his own pattern of hitting CC all the time!
lol…I am not wasting $10 on watching Rafa getting pulverised.
atul,
Yeah, that’s what I did. I thought it might be different this time.
you can watch it online for free