Novak Djokovic downs world number one Rafael Nadal to win the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open title
World number two Serb Novak Djokovic stunned world number one Spaniard Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the final of the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open on Sunday. After winning the title, the Serb has now extended his perfect winning record this season and is aiming for the world number one rank.
2nd seeded Serb last met the Spaniard two weeks ago at Indian Wells and overpowered Nadal in three sets. In this ATP World Tour 1000 Masters Event, Djokovic dumped the Spaniard again in a three set thriller to lower the trail in their head to head series by 9-16.
“As I said on the court, it was one of the closest and best finals that I have played ever,” a happy Djokovic said.
Nadal who made quick in roads and overpowered the top form Serb in the opening set said, “I was very tired at the end. Think I played a little bit better the beginning of last week's final.”
“[But] I was there fighting until the last point… nothing left in my body right now, so that's the sport. I love these kinds of matches.”
The top seeded Spaniard, who hasn’t won any title this season but reached far in all events he entered, played his best tennis in the match. In the opening set, the 24-year-old Nadal was on fire as he held his opening serve in the second game and broke the Serbian’s serve early on in the proceeding game. He then broke Djokovic’s serve again in the fifth game and held his serve spectacularly in the following game to extend the lead by 5-1. Later he lost his concentration as he lost the next three games in a row but eventually clinched the set with a 6-4 win after keeping his serve in the tenth game. Nadal took full advantage of the 19 unforced errors the Serbian committed and he also hammered seven aptly placed winners.
The 23-year-old Serb re-formed his strategy in the second set and came to the court as a completely different person. He won the first three games in a row and later held his entire serve but the early break he earned led him to win the equalizer with a 6-3 score line. Djokovic hammered 14 winners to his rival’s 7 and capitalized on the 10 unforced errors Spaniard committed.
Both players played the best tennis in the decider set as both held their entire serves superbly. The set went to tiebreaker where the Serb prevailed and re-affirmed his dominance in men’s tennis.
Overall, Djokovic clobbered 40 winners to Nadal’s 25 but also committed 40 unforced errors to make the match more competitive. He finally downed the Spaniard in three hours and 22 minutes to clinch his fourth title this year. Earlier this season, he had won titles at Melbourne, Dubai and Indian Wells before entering this tournament.
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