Rafael Nadal takes on Novak Djokovic in Qatar Open

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will meet for the 47th time and play their 24th final against each other after both won their Qatar Open semifinals on Friday.

World number one Djokovic progressed through to Saturday’s final after overcoming Tomas Berdych in a bruising encounter, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).

Earlier Nadal also won in two sets but in a more straightforward fashion, beating Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko 6-3, 6-4 in little over an hour. “I guess it’s a pretty important match tomorrow, let’s see what happens,” said Djokovic.

“It’s a final so you fight for the trophy. And knowing that across the net you have the player that you played against the most ever in your career adds more importance to that final,” he added.

Saturday’s final will reignite one of the greatest rivalries of modern tennis.

Of the 23 finals they have contested so far, Djokovic has a slight advantage winning 13. They have faced each other in the final of all four Grand Slams. Saturday’s final will also be the 99th of Nadal’s career and Djokovic’s 16th consecutive ATP final.

Head-to-head in all matches, the pair have each won 23. Djokovic was made to work for his victory by third-seeded Berdych and a lesser player may have succumbed to the Czech.

The Serb, who had beaten Berdych in 21 of their previous 23 encounters, lost his very first serve and then faced another break point to go 1-4 down. However, he held his serve and then won the next four games in typical fashion to take the first set.

Any notion that Berdych might then roll over in the second set soon faded as the pair held serve throughout, treating fans to high-quality tennis throughout.

Djokovic though was relentless in the tie-break, breaking Berdych’s first serve and ended up winning the decider 7/3. It means Djokovic is still to drop a set all week in four matches.

Afterwards he admitted he had a slight concern over an arm injury which has required attention from a physio but added that he didn’t think “it’s a major concern”.