In what was billed as the must watch match of the tournament in the Men’s Draw, Rafael Nadal outclassed Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-4 to gain a berth in the Madrid Open final.

The Spaniard’s dominance on clay continued as he controlled the match from beginning to end. Like a high-speed train leaving the Madrid station, the Nadal express rolled through the first set leaving the Serb with few answers.

And though Djokovic committed a number of unforced errors in the set, Nadal had command of most of the points. It seemed as though he had an answer for every strategy Djokovic attempted. If the world no. 2 tried to keep the ball on the inside, Nadal struck a baseline winner. If he attempted to pressure, unforced errors crept into his game. And if he attempted to volley, Nadal would find a passing shot.

In the second set, after Nadal gained an early break of serve, Djokovic finally countered with a service break of his own. But it only briefly slowed the Nadal train down as he quickly gained another service break to go to 3-2. He consolidated the break and held serve the remainder of the set, sealing the victory.

“I have been playing well. I think it was a great first set. I hit good the forehand in the first set, good the backhand, too. I was serving well,” said Nadal. “When I was playing that well at the beginning, it's true that I felt for moments under control, and in the second not. In the second, the match was much more equal, and anything could happen. But in general terms, I think I played a great match.”

Meanwhile, Djokovic was impressed with his opponent’s play. “Well, Rafa was obviously a better player today. He deserved to win. I mean, he was controlling the game from beginning to the end,” he said. “Just his quality was very high. You know, he managed to do whatever he wanted really, especially in the first set. I was getting a lot of balls back. He was serving well. He was using his court positioning well.”

Nadal is one match away from winning his third consecutive clay tournament. He has won in Barcelona and Monte Carlo earlier in the spring. But the tournament many have the Spaniard as a heavy favorite comes at the end of the month at Roland Garros. Djokovic, the French Open defending champion, is among those who believes Nadal will be the player to beat in Paris stating, “Yes, yes, he is (the big favorite to win).”

Nadal will face Dominic Thiem in the Madrid final on Sunday. The Austrian defeated Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-4 in the second semifinal.

Photos courtesy of Pedro Ros Sogorb