Novak Djokovic put in a superhuman effort to keep his season-long win streak alive at 24 straight matches as he beat Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) Sunday to win the title at the Miami Masters.The victory in three hours, 21 minutes left the Serb winner undefeated since November 27 as he overcame Nadal, who was seeking his first title since October in Tokyo. Since going out to Roger Federer in the
semi-finals of the Tour finals in London last winter, Djokovic has also won two Davis Cup matches for an extended streak of 26 straight.
Djokovic and his Spanish top-seeded rival struggled in the fierce Florida heat, with the world number two Serb finally winning the title for a second time after Nadal had saved two match points.
Djokovic triumphed on his third try, finishing with 40 winners and 36 unforced errors in the struggle. Nadal has now lost three Miami finals, after also falling in 2005 and 2008.
"It was was very close, it could have gone either way," said a relieved Djokovic, now 9-16 against Nadal. "It was one of the best finals that I've ever played in my life.
"It's always a great pleasure to play against Rafa, he's also had a great two weeks here."
Nadal called Djokovic "too good for me today."
"It was a very difficult and hard-fought match," said the Spaniard. "I had my chances today but Novak did not let me take them."
Djokovic becomes the first to complete the coast-to-coast American Indian Wells-Miami doubles since Roger Federer in 2006. He also beat Nadal for the Californian title a fortnight ago.
Djokovic improved to 22-13 in ATP finals and 7-6 at the elite Masters 1000 level. Nadal had won five of the six previous final meetings with lone loss in Indian Wells last month.
The match stared slowly and built up momentum.
Djokovic lost serve for the first time at the event as he was broken twice in the opening set, Nadal saved a break point while holding a 4-1 lead after getting out of danger on three previous occasions on his own serve.
The unstoppable Nadal raced to a 5-1 lead as the invincible Djokovic of the past three months appeared ready to crumble. But instead of caving, the Serb broke as Nadal served for the set leading 5-2 after winning five consecutive games, 3-5.
Djokovic held a game later before Nadal put it away on his first set point after 56 minutes and 19 unforced errors from his opponent.
Despite looking less than fresh, Djokovic soldiered on, finding his range with a break of Nadal in the second game of the second set and taking his fightback lead to 4-1. Nadal rallied to hold after Djokovic missed on two chances for a 5-1 lead, with the Spaniard saving the sixth game for 2-4.
After nearly another hour of struggle, Djokovic had levelled the sets at one each as his struggle paid off against a seemingly low-key Nadal, missing some of his usual fire.
With the stakes rising as the deciding set began, Nadal had to work for almost 10 minutes to hold in the first game, with Djokovic coming from 0-30 in the fourth to level at 2-apiece. Nadal made an identical recovery to hold for 3-2.
With the epic passing the three-hour mark - more than an hour average per set - neither man gave ground. Nadal served up a love game for 6-5, but Djokovic answered to force the tiebreaker.
Djokovic and his Spanish top-seeded rival struggled in the fierce Florida heat, with the world number two Serb finally winning the title for a second time after Nadal had saved two match points.
Djokovic triumphed on his third try, finishing with 40 winners and 36 unforced errors in the struggle. Nadal has now lost three Miami finals, after also falling in 2005 and 2008.
"It was was very close, it could have gone either way," said a relieved Djokovic, now 9-16 against Nadal. "It was one of the best finals that I've ever played in my life.
"It's always a great pleasure to play against Rafa, he's also had a great two weeks here."
Nadal called Djokovic "too good for me today."
"It was a very difficult and hard-fought match," said the Spaniard. "I had my chances today but Novak did not let me take them."
Djokovic becomes the first to complete the coast-to-coast American Indian Wells-Miami doubles since Roger Federer in 2006. He also beat Nadal for the Californian title a fortnight ago.
Djokovic improved to 22-13 in ATP finals and 7-6 at the elite Masters 1000 level. Nadal had won five of the six previous final meetings with lone loss in Indian Wells last month.
The match stared slowly and built up momentum.
Djokovic lost serve for the first time at the event as he was broken twice in the opening set, Nadal saved a break point while holding a 4-1 lead after getting out of danger on three previous occasions on his own serve.
The unstoppable Nadal raced to a 5-1 lead as the invincible Djokovic of the past three months appeared ready to crumble. But instead of caving, the Serb broke as Nadal served for the set leading 5-2 after winning five consecutive games, 3-5.
Djokovic held a game later before Nadal put it away on his first set point after 56 minutes and 19 unforced errors from his opponent.
Despite looking less than fresh, Djokovic soldiered on, finding his range with a break of Nadal in the second game of the second set and taking his fightback lead to 4-1. Nadal rallied to hold after Djokovic missed on two chances for a 5-1 lead, with the Spaniard saving the sixth game for 2-4.
After nearly another hour of struggle, Djokovic had levelled the sets at one each as his struggle paid off against a seemingly low-key Nadal, missing some of his usual fire.
With the stakes rising as the deciding set began, Nadal had to work for almost 10 minutes to hold in the first game, with Djokovic coming from 0-30 in the fourth to level at 2-apiece. Nadal made an identical recovery to hold for 3-2.
With the epic passing the three-hour mark - more than an hour average per set - neither man gave ground. Nadal served up a love game for 6-5, but Djokovic answered to force the tiebreaker.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire