Djokovic wins Madrid title
Novak Djokovic of Serbia maintained his extraordinary start to the season by beating Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-4 to win the Madrid Masters title.
Second seed Djokovic beat the defending champion Nadal through a succession of ferocious rallies to record his 32nd consecutive win of an unbeaten 2011, the best season start since John McEnroe’s 42-match streak in 1984.
The defeat was Nadal’s first on clay since he lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the 2009 French Open, 38 matches ago.
The result denied the Spaniard a third title on the surface in less than a month, having triumphed at the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open in April.
Djokovic, who had never beaten Nadal on clay in nine previous attempts, has now won six titles this year, including the Australian Open and the Masters in Indian Wells and Miami.
He triumped in most of the lengthy exchanges at the start and surged into a 4-0 lead to prompt nervous mutterings among the home support in the packed, 12,500-capacity arena.
Nadal fought his way back to 4-5 with two breaks and saved three set points on his serve to draw level at 5-5. But that was in vain as the Serb held confidently and broke Nadal for a third time to move a set ahead.
The Spaniard began the second set strongly, breaking Djokovic in the opening game. Nadal then indulged in some characteristic fist-pumping but his euphoria did not last as he dropped his serve in the next game to make it 1-1.
With Real Madrid football players Cristiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas watching from the stands, Real fan Nadal had to dig deep to stay in the match but was finally beaten when he sent a sliced backhand wide after another mesmerising baseline rally on Djokovic’s second match point.
“What you are doing this year is really unbelieveable,” Nadal said to his opponent. “Congratulations to you and your team.”
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