Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic has fired a chilling warning to his Australian Open challengers with a crushing win over Rafael Nadal to send the ATP Cup final into a deciding doubles rubber.
Making a mockery of the greatest and most enduring rivalry in open-era tennis, Djokovic smothered Nadal in straight sets for the ninth-straight time on a hard court to draw Serbia level at one rubber apiece with Spain.
The 6-2 7-6 (7-4) domination of the pair’s record-setting 55th career meeting – and first in Sydney – came after Roberto Bautista Agut also completed a flawless Cup campaign with a 7-5 6-1 win over Dusan Lajovic in Sunday night’s opening singles match at Ken Rosewall Arena.
Needing to win to keep the tie alive, Djokovic continued on from where he left off in consigning Nadal to the only straight-sets grand slam final defeat of the Spaniard’s glorious career last January at Melbourne Park.
The super Serb has won 19 consecutive sets against the 19-time major champion on hard courts since Nadal last beat Djokovic on the surface in the 2013 US Open final.
Dialled in from the get-go, the world No.2 broke the world No.1 in the first game of the match.
Unable to make any inroads on Djokovic’s own impregnable serve, Nadal took out his frustrations on the largely pro-Serbian crowd, offering a sarcastic thumbs up after being broken for a second time to fall behind 5-2 in the opening set.
Djokovic clinched the set with three-consecutive aces and didn’t concede a solitary point for four-straight service games.
When he found himself under pressure for the only time in the match, in the fifth game of the second set, Djokovic coolly fought off five break points with three baseline winners and two more aces.
Nadal scrapped for his life to stay in the contest but it was all over when Djokovic secured the tiebreaker.
Win or lose the Cup-deciding doubles with Victor Troicki over Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta, Djokovic will head to Melbourne this week a hot favourite to land an unprecedented eighth Open crown.
In the perfect preparation for the season-opening slam, Djokovic’s win over Nadal followed victories earlier in the inaugural staging of the $22 million ATP Cup over Kevin Anderson, Gael Monfils, Christian Garin, Denis Shapovalov and 2019 US Open finalist Daniil Medvedev.
