Djokovic crushes Nadal to win Qatar Open

Novak Djokovic moved ahead for the first time in his long-running rivalry with Rafael Nadal when the world number one thrashed the Spaniard to win the Qatar Open in Doha last Saturday.

The Serb, appearing in his 16th consecutive final, won 6-1 6-2 in little more than an hour and now has 24 career victories over Nadal, compared to 23 for the former world number one.

Djokovic dominated 2015, winning three of the year's four grand slams, and already looks in the groove in the build-up to this month's Australian Open.

The Serb has now won nine of his last 10 clashes with Nadal.

Saturday's one-sided affair saw Djokovic claim a 60th career ATP title, one of only 10 players to achieve such a feat.

The 28-year-old suffered one of his few blips last year in Doha when he was surprisingly beaten by Ivo Karlovic, failing to reach a tournament final for the only time in 2015.

But he made up for that with an immaculate week alongside the Arabian Gulf.  Nadal was powerless to stop Djokovic as he watched 16 winners fly past him in the opening set. Reuters