World number one Novak Djokovic continued his recent dominance over Rafael Nadal when he beat the Spaniard in the final of the China Open to win the tournament for the sixth time in Beijing on Sunday.
Advertisement
Nadal, into his first hardcourt semi-final for more than a year, will now face Fognini, who has beaten him three times this season including in last month’s US Open third round.
The second set was attritional until Nadal leapt ahead with a break for 4-2, and the suddenly invigorated Spaniard won the next game to love to stand on the brink of victory.
On the other side of the net will be Novak Djokovic, who is an incredible 28-0 lifetime in Beijing after thrashing David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals.
“If I am able to play my best tomorrow, I am going to have my chances”.
The world number one underlined his superiority in men’s tennis as he thrashed a fading Nadal for his 29th win at an event he also won in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Spaniard leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 23-21, but it is Djokovic who has prevailed in six of their past seven contests.
The Wimbledon finalists recovered from a slow start to win the first set in 54 minutes.
“Playing matches is the best practice doable, trying to do factors on the matches, to have much better feelings, practice the things that I require to do next year”. “Happy to be back in a final”. I played closer to the baseline.
In an incredible season, he has won eight titles after narrowly missing out on the calendar slam as he was beaten in the French Open final by Stan Wawrinka.
“I played a great match and a great tournament”.
“Yes, it was an important victory for me”.
“The fans give me reason to come back every year”. “I always prepare myself for the battle, no question about it. He’s the player I played the most against in my life”.
Advertisement
Djokovic was already well on top and in complete control when Nadal hurt his foot. However, Wozniacki failed to avoid the casualty list when she was upset by 10th seed Angelique Kerber 6-2 6-3 in the third round on Wednesday.
