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| Novak Djokovic |
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| Rafael Nadal |
Serb Novak Djokovic beat Spanish favorite Rafael Nadal on Sunday to win the final of the Madrid Masters. Djokovic beat the world number one 7-5, 6-4 in front of a partisan Madrid crowd to maintain an incredible unbeaten start to 2011.
The Serb's win was all the more impressive because as well as the pressure from the crowd, the match was played on Nadal's favourite beaten clay surface. Nadal had always beaten Djokovic on clay in all of their previous meetings and the Spaniard had not lost a match on the surface since losing in the quarterfinals of the French Open almost two years ago.
Djokavic took a tight first set by breaking Nadal's serve in the 12th game and again broke the Spaniard in the ninth game of the second set to leave himself serving for the match and the tournament.
His win means that Djokovic has now won 24 titles in his career, while this year he is unbeaten in all 32 matches he has played. The Serb now has to be considered Nadal's main rival for the French Open later this month.
"Unbelievable," said Djokovic, whose winning streak totals 34 matches including last year's Davis Cup final. "I stepped onto the court today believing I could win. I needed to be aggressive and it was a great match."
And Nadal later insisted that Djokovic will at some stage in the near future replace him as world number one.
"The number one ranking is not in danger - it's finished," said the 24-year-old. "Let's not lie to ourselves, that's the reality. Nobody likes to lose. "I have to see what's missing and working with a cool, open mind to decipher things and find the solutions. To try to do a little better next time."
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