Saturday’s win was Djokovic’s 16th straight final triumph, pushing his overall stats to 45-6 in his last 51 matches on the ATP Tour.
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“I know his character, how big of a fighter he is and how hard he works”, the world No. 1 said, adding that “there’s a reason” why the current world No. 5 is one of the greatest of all time.
Nadal, the number two seed in Doha, has set up the enticing prospect of meeting Novak Djokovic in the final.
Nadal and Djokovic have a 23-23 H2H record in ATP with Djokovic winning the last 4 matches between the two.
The 28-year-old suffered one of his few blips last year in Doha when he was surprisingly beaten by Ivo Karlovic, failing to reach a tournament final for the only time in 2015.
A year ago, he lost in the quarter-finals to Ivo Karlovic, and has not fallen short of a final since, claiming 11 titles from 15 finals-with all but one 500 title being at Masters or Grand Slam level. He converted his third break point in the opening game of the second set and secured another break to all but seal the match at 4-1. Both made same number of unforced errors – 13 – but Djokovic belted 30 winners to Nadal’s 9, which ultimately made the difference. If Djokovic dominates like he did a year ago, and Nadal’s struggles continue, I would not be at all surprised to see him surpass all these legends past and present come the season’s end. Nadal looked dejected and nearly unwilling to play on, an unfortunate finish to what has been a productive week for the Spaniard. Djokovic reeled off six straight games to take the first set and also edged a see-saw second. Apart from this tournament, Novak must have eyes on the Australian Open title as he must be planning to defend it. Obviously from the first to the last point I managed to impose my own tactical approach and strategy and what I have kind of prepared myself for.
“I don’t think it’s a major concern”. Again the momentum swung and this time Djokovic would not let it go.
“I’m going to fight and I feel ready to fight, and I feel ready and excited about this fight and I hope to be closer”. “And Australia is a different story, different conditions”. If I lost 6-1, 6-2 today, it’s because I played against a player, who played at the level that I didn’t know till today. “He was too good today”.
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“It’s for every young player an incredible experience to play with probably the greatest of all time”, Thiem said.
