Novak Djokovic brushes aside Rafael Nadal to clinch Doha crown

The 14-time champion, however, dismantled Marchenko, who had knocked out two seeds in previous matches, including defending champion David Ferrer in the first round.

If there is one doubt he takes from Doha though is that he has a niggling arm injury, which he admits he has received treatment for, but downplayed its importance on Saturday. “I pretty much played flawless tennis from the start”, Djokovic said of the duo’s 47th meeting, a record for rivalries. Let’s see if Djokovic has returned to his full self or not yet.

“No, I don’t feel invincible”, Djokovic was quoted as saying by Tennis-X. Whenever [my son] is awake I try to be helpful to my wife and spend time with him. I believe, though, that two milestones achieved in this encounter by the Serb are of particular note. He is going to play his 16th final in a single row.

Agnieszka Radwanska scored a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 victory over Alison Riske of the United States to win the Shenzhen (China) Open.

Last year, Nadal’s “annus horriblis”, saw the Spaniard limp to the quarter-finals before being beaten by the Czech Tomas Berdych. Moreover, the Spaniard is chasing his first ATP World Tour hard-court title in two years and he couldn’t have asked for a tougher test to end the drought.

The win sets up a semifinal match with Austrian Dominic Thiem while the man he beat in last year’s final, Milos Raonic, takes on Bernard Tomic in the other semifinal on Saturday. If it could do that and break the four-match losing streak, it would be a sign that the old Nadal is back and that he would be a force to be reckoned with this upcoming season.

The moment hardly had an impact on the calm composure of Djokovic, who won the next game to go 5-1 up. He immediately opened a triple-break point lead in the next game.

With the first set gone, Nadal had been pushed to the wall, psychologically at least. The Serb was forced to save break point after Nadal had produced a series of sumptuous forehands that were unsettling the Serb, but Djokovic, whose exertions in Qatar this week have been characterised by laborious starts, held firm to to take the first game. “It was not a ideal win”.

“I am well prepared for it as it’s the important match. Obviously easier said than done but the way I played today gives me confidence and satisfaction playing against Rafa, a great feeling“.

Djokovic’s fine form would continue right at the beginning of the second, as he instantly broke in the first game of the match to grab yet another advantage.

“If you think it was a great way to finish the year, lot of momentum, it was very positive, then no need to use it in a negative way”.