MADRID OPEN SEMI FINAL: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal set for 50th meeting

 
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will meet for the 50th time in one of the fiercest and most competitive rivalries tennis has ever seen.
No two players have met more often in the Open Era, with their first
meeting coming more than a decade ago back in 2006.
On that day, Nadal beat the Serb, who retired at 4-6 4-6 down, at Roland Garros and their rivalry has since taken many twists and turns throughout the 11-year stint.
The latest chapter in the tale sees a resurgent Nadal taking on a struggling Djokovic – who recently parted ways with his entire coaching team – on the Spaniard’s favoured surface and it promises to be another fascinating encounter between the pair.
Here we take a look at the contest and offer a prediction as to who will come out on top…

How have they reached the semi-finals?

  Both men started the tournament in similar fashion, with a bye and then a tough three-set match-up against Fabio Fognini and Nicolas Almagro respectively.

Nadal then raised his game to completely dismantle Nick Kyrgios, while Djokovic looked assured on serve as he moved past Feliciano Lopez.

 

Djokovic and Nadal routes to Madrid Open semi-finals

Nadal
R1: Bye
R2: 7-6 3-6 6-4 Fognini
R3: 6-3 6-1 Kyrgios
QF: 7-6 6-2 Goffin
Djokovic
R1: Bye
R2: 6-1 4-6 7-5 Almagro
R3: 6-4 7-5 Lopez
QF: W/O Nishikori

Djokovic enjoyed a walkover courtesy of a Kei Nishikori injury in the quarter-finals, while Nadal moved past a spirited David Goffin with a fine display in the last-eight.

What’s their head-to-head like?

The 49 previous meetings between the pair have been largely fascinating, with the winning patterns of the two shifting throughout their history.
Nadal won 14 of their opening 18 meetings and looked as if he would dominate the duals between the two.
But Djokovic has come into his own in later years, suffering just one defeat to his great rival in 10 matches since 2014.

Djokovic v Nadal

Head-to-head
Djokovic 26-23 Nadal
Last five meetings
2016: Rome QF – Djokovic 7-5 7-6
2016: Indian Wells SF – Djokovic 7-6 6-2
2016: Doha F – Djokovic 6-1 6-2
2015: Tour Finals SF – Djokovic 6-3 6-3
2015: Beijing F – Djokovic 6-2 6-2

Djokovic is on a seven-match winning streak against the clay court king and, perhaps most interestingly, has beaten him three times in a row on his favoured surface.
Both have won one match apiece at the Madrid Open, although Nadal won their only semi-final meeting – taking the final set tiebreak 11-9 in a classic in 2009.

 There have been countless brilliant contests between the two, but the 2012 Australian Open final stands out as the finest.

In the longest Grand Slam final in history, a five-set epic reached its conclusion at 01:37 local time after a gruelling near six-hour slog.

 Having outlasted Andy Murray in the semi-final in another taxing near five-hour battle royale, Djokovic returned to the Rod Laver Arena to fight for every point in one of the greatest feats of physical fitness ever achieved by both men.

Incredibly, throughout the five-hour-and-53-minute encounter the level of tennis remained of the highest calibre and it will go down as one of the greatest matches seen across all sport.

 (Metro Sports)