The Khalifa Complex was filled with anticipation in air, with the crowd hoping they would get to see a classic contest between two of the greatest tennis stars. But what, the packed audience - which included Bayern Munich players and its high-profile coach Pep Guardiola - eventually witnessed was Djokovic giving a proper hiding to Nadal, with the title clash done and dusted in one hour 13 minutes.
Djokovic continued from where he left in 2015, when he won three Grand Slams, six Masters titles and finished 82-6. The 28-year-old has no intention of slowing down, based on his thrashing of Nadal. In fact, the Serbian did not drop a single set throughout this tournament.
It was the 47th meeting between the two, with both having split equal number of victories before last night’s final. Djokovic surged ahead in the head-to-head duel after he put on an absolutely dominating show. It was the 16th consecutive final for Djokovic who last lost a tournament in August last year.
In his own words, Djokovic played a “perfect match”. Both made same number of unforced errors -- 13 -- but Djokovic belted 30 winners to Nadal’s 9, which ultimately made the difference.
“I played pretty much perfect tennis today. From the very beginning I managed to get every shot the way I wanted,” said Djokovic, who received the falcon-themed trophy from 2004 French Open champion Gaston Gaudio and a cheque of $201,165. “The way I played today gives me great satisfaction. It was easier said than done though. To win against a player like Nadal, this easily gives me a great deal of confidence going into the Australian Open.
“This trophy will hold a special place in my heart as this reminds me of someone closer, who is not with me anymore. My grandfather used to call me falcon and the trophy will remind me of him,” he added.
Former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio present Djokovic with the winner’s trophy.
Nadal, playing in his 99th final, conceded Djokovic was on a different level on the night as his two-year trophy-less streak on hard courts continued. “I played against a player who did everything perfect. I don’t know anyone playing tennis like this ever. Since I know this sport I have never seen somebody playing at this (high) level. So I just want to congratulate him and that’s it,” said the 29-year-old, who took home $105,940.
Having lost at the quarter-final stage in his debut appearance in Doha last year, Djokovic had said he had some unfinished business left here. And he went about his business in style.
The first set lasted only 35 minutes as Djokovic sped away with a 3-0 lead, breaking Nadal’s first service game. Nadal held his serve in the fourth game, and that is all he would get in the opening set as Djokovic broke again in the sixth game, before closing out the set. The last time Djokovic had won a set 6-1 against Nadal was back in 2009 in the Cincinnati Masters semi-finals.
With his back to the wall, Nadal has come back strongly more often than not, which is what makes it difficult for his opponent. But not on this night and against a Djokovic, who was far superior. The World No1 was hitting deep on the baseline and the length of his groundstrokes was more or less faultless, opening up space to hit winners with Nadal made to run from one end to another.
The second set began in the same fashion as first, with Djokovic breaking the Spaniard’s serve in the opening game. The champion did so again in the fifth game to go 4-1 ahead and the writing was clear on the wall for Nadal. The championship point game for Djokovic, Nadal tamely pushed the serve back to the net to give the Serbian his 60th-career title.
The win tied Djokovic with Andre Agassi for ninth place on Open Era titles list.
He has now claimed 11 consecutive sets against Nadal since the Spaniard prevailed in the 2014 Roland Garros final.
Nadal, despite losing to Djokovic for the ninth time in last 10 meetings - the last five in straight sets, chose to look at positives going to year’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, in nine days’ time. “For my side, I am happy the way I am working and I am going to keep working hard. I know I can do a few things better, but the real thing is, it’s so difficult to have chances against him, if he keeps playing like this. It is probably impossible. But the real thing is that I had a positive week. I am playing well, and I am going to work hard to try and be ready for Australia. And I think I will be. I am motivated for it,” the Mallorcan said.
“And Australia is a different story, different conditions. And it’s obvious that Novak playing like this will make it difficult for anyone to beat him. 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. The opponent was too good. And when something like this happens, the only thing you can do is applaud and congratulate him,” the Spaniard added.