Madrid: (May 13, 2017) Rafael Nadal snapped a seven-match losing streak against Novak Djokovic in commanding fashion as he romped into the final of the Madrid Masters 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday.
The Spaniard looks in ominous form with just over two weeks to go till the start of the French Open as he stretched his perfect record on clay this season to 14-0 with a dominant display.
Nadal will look to seal his fifth title in Madrid in Sunday´s final against Dominic Thiem or Pablo Cuevas.
An open era record 50th meeting between Nadal and Djokovic served to highlight the Serb´s dramatic dip in form since they last met in Rome almost exactly a year ago.
Djokovic´s straight sets win in that encounter meant he had won his last 15 sets stretching back to the 2014 French Open final against the 14-time Grand Slam champion.
However, that run was emphatically ended as Nadal, willed on by a fervent home support including Cristiano Ronaldo in the VIP boxes, made the perfect start by breaking the Djokovic serve to love.
Indeed Djokovic could only muster four points in the opening four games as Nadal raced into a 4-0 lead.
He did salvage some pride by seeing off more pressure on his serve to at least hold twice and force Nadal to serve out to take the first set in 40 minutes.
Djokovic was playing his first tournament in Madrid since parting company with his long-term coach Marian Vajda.
