Novak Djokovic goes into tonight's Indian Wells final with Rafael Nadal unbeaten in 19 matches.
Djokovic has never beaten Nadal before in an ATP final, losing all five of those matches but the Serbian star is currently in the form of his life and after winning the Australian Open and recapturing the world number two spot he will feel he has every chance.
Of the two players, Djokovic has been far more impressive so far at the BNP Paribas Open. He brushed aside opponents of the quality of Richard Gasquet, Viktor Troicki and Ernests Gulbis without ever conceding more than six games before defeating Roger Federer on 'Super Saturday' for the third time in 2011.
“I have played Nadal many times, and many times in the late stages of the tournaments, especially in the semis and finals of the major events,” Djokovic said. “I know how it feels like to be in the big stand or how it feels like to play him, so I will be prepared. I want this trophy as much as he wants it, so we'll both step into the court tomorrow wanting that win.”
Djokovic may trail Nadal 16-7 on the overall head-to-head but many of those matches have been on clay, by far Nadal's favourite surface. On hard courts, Djokovic leads 7-5 and he has enjoyed particular success against the Spaniard on the hard courts of North America, beating him multiple times in Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati in the past.
