Rafael Nadal beats Novak Djokovic in straight sets to reach the Madrid Open final after superb performance.
Rafael Nadal ended his seven-match winless streak against Novak Djokovic with a 6-2, 6-4 win that put him in the Madrid Open final again on Saturday.Nadal overpowered Djokovic from the start, and converted on his third match point to earn his first victory against the second-ranked Serb since the 2014 French Open final.It was the 14th straight victory for the fifth-ranked Nadal, and his tour-leading 33rd for the year. Rafael Nadal reached the final of the Madrid Open after beating Novak Djokovic in straight setsRafael Nadal faced Novak Djokovic for the 50th time in the Madrid Open semi finals Nadal outplayed world No 2 Djokovic to take the first set 6-2 in 40 minutes Nadal faced Djokovic for the 50th time, and showed some of his old dominance on clay to put in a powerful, winning performance. In the final, the four-time Madrid champion will play Dominic Thiem of Austria or Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.It was another disappointing loss for the struggling Djokovic, who hasn’t reached a final since winning his first tournament of the year in Doha. This was first tournament since splitting with longtime coach Marian Vajda.Nadal was once an unstoppable force on clay and showed some of that power in MadridDjokovic could not deal with the world No 5 and was broken in the first game of the second setNadal will be favourite for the final, against either Dominic Thiem or Pablo CuevasThe overwhelming of Djokovic is ominous ahead of the French Open coming soonReal Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo (left) was among the spectators courtsideFormer tennis player Ilie Nastase (far left, second row) was also watching the game .
