Novak Djokovic masters Rafael Nadal to complete the Indian Wells/Miami double

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic defeats Spain’s Rafael Nadal in the men’s final at the Sony Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Fla., on Sunday, March 30, 2014.

Novak Djokovic is a man on a mission – the determined Serbian registered an incredibly smooth two set victory over his arch rival Rafael Nadal to clinch a second successive Masters Series 1000 title this season. Djokovic, who was also the winner at Indian Wells earlier this month, dominated Nadal in an impressive 6-3 6-3 effort that took an hour and 24 minutes. The victory helped Djokovic emulate Roger Federer and become only the second player to complete the double twice – winning the Masters series titles in Indian Wells and Miami – 2011 & 2014. Nadal should be content with his laboured efforts in Miami, but he is yet to win the title despite playing four finals at the South Florida tennis tournament.

Nadal and Djokovic are storied rivals and the man who had won the first set had gone on to win the encounter in all but five of their previous 39 encounters. So it was obviously important to score the first strike. Nadal wasted no time in making his move as he swung his arms freely in the very first game, earning a break point on the Djokovic serve.

The Serbian averted the threat with some typically workmanlike tennis from the back of the court, stretching Nadal just enough to induce an error. Djokovic went on to win three points on the run to hold serve and keep his opponent at bay.

At 2-2, the set seemed evenly poised, both men relying on their ferocious forehands to do much of the damage. But soon, Djokovic took advantage of a slight opening to take control of the set.

The first break of the match came on Nadal’s serve in the sixth game. The Serbian struck a brilliant backhand cross-court winner that left Nadal stranded for both angle and pace and followed it up with a stinging winner that opened the door ever so slightly for Djokovic at 0-30. And though Nadal sought to recover, a blistering forehand winner helped the Serbian gain his first break point. It was all he would need, as he struck his shots venom and spin to drag and stretch Nadal on his backhand side. Lunging for it at the end of a lengthy rally, Nadal could only manage to sink a backhand into the net to surrender the break.

A forehand winner up the line, beating Nadal with sheer speed, gave Djokovic three set points in the ninth game. The first went begging to a backhand that sailed wide, but an ace sealed the set on the next point.

As Djokovic raced away with 16 of the last 20 points to clinch the set in 41 minutes, it was becoming obvious that Nadal’s strategy of staying deep behind the baseline to indulge Djokovic in a taxing series of rallies wasn’t exactly working to plan.

Nadal compounded his problems, when he surrendered a tame break at 15 in the first game of the second set. Alert to the danger staring him in the face, the Spaniard pushed his opponent to the brink in the very next game. Somehow, Djokovic managed to quell the advances of his opponent to stay ahead in the set.

In the fifth game, Nadal was staring down the barrel when he offered his opponent another opportunity to break. But his resilient best came to the fore, when he  clawed himself back into the game with the help of an immense forehand up the line winner.

As the tension mounted amongst the thousands of fans inside the stadium court, Djokovic retained his advantage with an easy hold in the sixth game. The Serbian was only two games short of repeating the Indian Wells/Miami double, a feat he had achieved once before in 2011.

Nadal was in a spot of bother  in the seventh game when it went to deuce, but fought back with typical gusto to keep within touching distance from his opponent at 3-4. Djokovic made his intentions loud and clear when he nailed the ninth game without dropping a point.

Serving to stay in the match, Nadal courted deep trouble as he fell to 0-30. Not one to spurn an opening, Djokovic pushed Nadal deep behind the baseline and the Spaniard obliged by dumping a backhand in the net to offer up two match points.

A brilliant rally followed, as the players traded stinging groundstrokes, before duelling at the net for a bit. In the end, Djokovic put away an easy winner to clinch an 18th career victory over Nadal. As he collapsed on his back upon winning the final point, it was only too obvious how much the title meant to Djokovic.

It was a largely subdued performance from Nadal, who made 20 unforced errors and 15 winners in an effort that was far too defensive to dent Djokovic. In contrast, the Serb  had 22 winners to only 14 unforced errors. But the key to the match was Nadal’s frailties with the serve.

Nadal won a meagre 59% of his first serve points and could only translate 47% of his second serve points in his favour. With the Spaniard giving away far too much, Djokovic had plenty of opportunities to attack with his ferocious forehand to control court space and the outcome of the points.

The fact that Djokovic won 20 points more than his opponent (61-40) is testimony to the Serbian’s dominance on the day. The victory gave Djokovic his 18th Masters Series title and improved his head-to-head with Nadal to 22-18, still in favour of the Spaniard.

The Serbian’s fourth title in Miami was also the 43rd of his career and comes as a nice boost in confidence ahead of the busy clay court schedule that kicks off in April at Monte Carlo. The French Open is the only Grand Slam title to have eluded the Serbian and the world No.2 would be eager to correct that anomaly before the tour reaches London by the end of June.