The forty-fifth career meeting between
Novak Djokovic and
Rafael Nadal will occur tomorrow in Beijing, China, in the finals of the 2015 China Open, where Djokovic has won 27 consecutive matches. Nadal, 29,
currently holds a slim 23-21, lead over his 28-year-old rival who is having one of his best years on tour. Djokovic has beaten Nadal twice this year,
most importantly in straight sets in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros and has also won 6 of their last 7 meetings. This match is on hard courts in Asia where Djokovic plays his best tennis (and the surface where he leads his rival 14-7). This is the World #1's 12th consecutive final of the year (he is 7-4) while this is Nadal's 5th (he is 3-1) and this is Nadal's first hard court major of the year. To get here, Nadal had to dispatch
Fabio Fognini who has beaten him three times this year (including, crucially,
in the 3rd round of the U.S. Open, ending the 14-time major champion's chance to win a major in 2015).
Djokovic is probably at his peak right now, having won 3 majors in 2015 and many think it is very possible that he could go on to eclipse not only Nadal's major total of 14, but possibly even
Roger Federer's at 17. I doubt Djokovic will get that far, but I do suspect his final major total will be in the "teens."
If Djokovic wins it will be his 56th career ATP title (currently 55-26) while if Nadal wins it will be his 68th career title (67-29). Djokovic is trying to win his 6th China Open title (5-0) while Nadal is trying to win his 3rd (1-1). Djokovic beat Nadal in
straight sets to win the 2013 title.
MadProfessah's pick: Djokovic.
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