Rafael Nadal labels Novak Djokovic as ‘perfect’

epa05091859 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Leonardo Mayer of Argentina during their quarter final match at the Qatar ATP Open tennis tournament at the Khalifa Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, 07 January 2016.

Nadal and Djokovic have a 23-23 H2H record in ATP with Djokovic winning the last 4 matches between the two.

However, he knows his chances may hinge on Djokovic, who brushed aside Rafael Nadal in straight sets to claim the Qatar Open title last week, suffering a loss of form.

Djokovic could hardly be in better shape as he prepares to go in search of a sixth Australian Open title – and 11th grand slam – at Melbourne Park later this month. “It’s for every young player an wonderful experience to play with the probably greatest of all time”, Thiem said.

The Swiss dropped just two points on serve through the first set, but Federer showed signs of fatigue in the second.

“I’m ready for the competition”, Djokovic said.

“This is exactly how I want to start the year, getting to the final in the first tournament of the year, against one of my biggest rivals”, Djokovic said.

Djokovic has cruised to his spot in the final round, beating Dustin Brown, Fernando Verdasco, Leonardo Mayer, and Tomas Berdych.

“Obviously this offseason was completely different from any offseason that I ever had”.

Nadal, who was competing in his 99th final, was bidding for his 68th tour-level title. 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.

Banging an ace to close an immaculate set of shot-making, Djokovic delivered 16 winners against just four unforced errors blitzing through the opener in 31 minutes. Australia’s top ranked player and projected 16th seed Bernard Tomic is at $101. If Djokovic dominates like he did previous year, 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. Without any doubt, he is the number one player winning three Grand Slams in 2015 and reached the final of this one.

Tomic ended 2014 U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori’s streak of three straight semifinal appearances at Brisbane with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win. 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.