Novak Djokovic

For Tennis fans, the word clay remains only the man Rafel Nadal. He was dominant in clay courts to anyone. Even the former World No.1, Roger Federer sucks with him in clay court. But this year it doesn’t seem to be for Roger or Nadal, It was Novak Djokovic! This time in Madrid Open, a clay court.

The Serbian world number 2 has yet again defeated the top player in the world Rafael Nadal, but this time in Nadal’s own den, a clay court, to capture the Madrid Open title. This defeat marks the Spaniard’s first loss in a clay court in the last 2 years. Last time it was in May, 2009, when Nadal suffered a clay court loss.

It was against Robin Soderling, who ended Nadal’s hope of recapturing the French Open title that year. Djokovic’s victory marks the 32nd victory in a row this season. He is yet to suffer a single loss in 2011 and is surely posing to be a big threat to both Nadal’s number 1 spot and French Open title. Incidentally, last time, when Djokovic lost a match was against Roger Federer in the semifinal of World Tour Finals, 2010. This Madrid open final lasted for 2 hours and 17 minutes and ended in a straight set victory for Djokovic: 7-5, 6-4.

After the match, Djokovic in press meet, “Playing with Nadal is always an honor and he is happy as he could play dominantly”. He added “Under the circumstances, I’ve played probably the best match of my life on clay against the World No. 1 and the player to beat on this surface,” Djokovic. “The way I played was just fantastic. I’m definitely satisfied with the performance and the overall tournament.”

The 23-year-old Djokovic has not been beaten since the semi-finals (l. to Federer) of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November and has opened the 2011 season with a 32-0 mark, taking in titles at the Australian Open, Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Belgrade and now in Madrid.

Tags: Clay Court, Madrid Open, Novak Djokovic, Rafel Nadal, Roger Federer, Tennis