It takes the world No1 into the lead in this rivalry for the first time, 24-23, and his 60th title takes him into a special club the includes only the elite in this sport, with the likes of Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer and, of course, Nadal.
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The world number one beat Mayer 6-3 7-5 in Doha on Thursday to set up a last-four encounter with Tomas Berdych.
Having lost at the quarter-final stage in his debut appearance in Doha previous year, Djokovic had said he had some unfinished business left here.
By holding off Dimitrov, who is 10 years his junior, Federer set up a meeting with 22-year-old Dominic Thiem, the youngest player in the top 20.
In the first meaningful tournament of the 2016 season, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic squared off in the ATP Qatar Open – with both men aiming to grab a mental advantage heading into the Australian Open next week.
Nadal finally got on the board in the fourth game of the opening set, but any hopes of a comeback were crushed nearly immediately as Djokovic continued to play exquisite tennis.
If he can maintain the aggressive play he has displayed this week, then Nadal will cause Djokovic problems. I know nobody playing tennis like this ever. 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.
It will be Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Saturday.
“But it’s lovely. It’s a new chapter of my life, and I enjoy it. I was actually saying already in the last 12 months or so how that has positively reflected on my tennis and my mindset, and actually finding the meaning and the objective to whatever I’m doing”.
Back in the days when Nadal was still sporting a muscle top and pirate trousers, Djokovic was simply an upcoming challenger to the Spaniard and the Queen’s Club was decked in Stella Artois red, these two played out a high-quality final in west London. After his historic 2015, I see no reason to believe that he will be any less great this season. It’s very important to me.
Nadal added that he was happy with his game other than his serve, which was broken four times.
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2015 was the year for celebrations to Djokovic while it was a year to forget about for Nadal as he failed to win a single grand slam because of his injuries which didn’t let him past it. However, as the last year approached its end, the Spaniard looks like returning to his form.
