Rafa Nadal looks to compound Novak Djokovic’s pain in Qatar

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  • Rafael Nadal downed Illya Marchenko in Doha.

    Rafael Nadal has not won a hard court title in two years and has not defeated Novak Djokovic in 18 months but the world No. 5 has a chance to end both droughts on Saturday when he squares off with his nemesis in the Qatar Open final.

    It will be the 47th meeting between Nadal and Djokovic with the pair locked at 23-23 against one another. Djokovic has a chance to lead Nadal in their head-to-head for the first time ever. But the Serb’s fitness has been thrown into question after he revealed on Friday that he has been dealing with some pain in his arm which he has been feeling while serving this week.

    In his pre-match warm-up hit with Malek Jaziri, Djokovic cut the session short citing pain. He admits he has spent a lot of time with the physio in Doha to be able to get through his matches.

    “I have been struggling a little bit. With the arm, you know, with the serve,” Djokovic said on Friday after his 6-3, 7-6 (3) semi-final victory over Tomas Berdych.

    “I don’t think it’s a major concern. Obviously knowing that I can play a match makes me feel relieved a bit, but it’s a little issue that has been there for most of this week. So hopefully till Australian Open it’s going to fade away.”

    Despite the injury concern, Djokovic managed to storm into a 16th consecutive final and is now just two short of Ivan Lendl’s Open Era record of 18 in a row.

    Like in his quarter-final against Leonardo Mayer on Thursday, Djokovic was broken in his first service game of the match against Berdych to fall behind 0-2.

    Berdych had a chance to go up a double-break but squandered two break points and it seemed to throw the Czech off as he was broken in game six and Djokovic ran away with the set.

    In the second set, neither player could muster a break but it was Djokovic who took a commanding lead in the tiebreak to move into his first Doha final.

    “I guess it’s a pretty important match tomorrow. Let’s see what happens,” Djokovic told the crowd of his upcoming final against Nadal.

    He added in his press conference: “I have noticed that Rafa has been very aggressive on second-serve returns this week. So he’s been trying to, of course, change something, improve, and it’s no surprise to me. I know him. I know his character and what a fighter and a hard worker he is.

    “So he’s one of the best players in the history of the game for a reason, and I’m sure that after last year’s season that was not up to his standards, he’s willing to do something else and improve his game. He’s in the final, so that’s already proof that he’s been playing well.”

    Earlier on centre court, Nadal needed just one hour and 17 minutes to defeat the tournament’s surprise package Illya Marchenko 6-3, 6-4.

    Nadal refused to describe his match against Marchenko as perfect but it certainly appeared like it was from the stands. The Spaniard dropped just four points on his first serve, saved the solitary break point he faced, fired six aces, no double faults, 16 winners against 13 unforced and was at no point out of control.

    “Not perfect, obviously. But I did a few good things, and I’m happy with the victory, being in the first final of the season,” said a coy Nadal. “For sure is important for my confidence. I am playing well, won four matches here and am in the final. Have points, have confidence, and rhythm. So everything is all positive.”

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