By Chris Oddo | Sunday, March 30, 2014

 

Novak Djokovic put forth a performance for the ages to take down Rafael Nadal in the Sony Open final in Miami, 6-3, 6-3.

Photo Source: Christopher Levy

Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal, 6-3, 6-3, at the Sony Open final in Miami to become just the second player in history to win the Indian Wells-Miami double twice.

In the pair's 40th career head-to-head meeting, the Serb controlled things from wire to wire to claim his 4th Miami title and 18th Masters 1000 title of his career.

“It's been a fantastic tournament,” said Djokovic. “Everything was working really well. It's truly a very incredible experience to for a player to play here in front of a very international crowd, and I really look forward to coming back next year.”

After saving the only break point he would face on the day in the first game of the first set, Djokovic broke in the sixth game of the opener for a 4-2 lead, and he closed the first set in 39 minutes.

The World No. 2 would break Nadal in the first and last games of the second set, finishing the match in a cool 84 minutes. Nadal drops to 0-4 in Miami finals with the loss.

The victory improves Djokovic's lifetime record against Nadal to 18-22. On hard courts, Djokovic now owns a 14-7 edge.

The Serb moves into second place on the all-time Miami title list with the victory, and he is only two behind Andre Agassi. Djokovic also moved past Agassi on the all-time Masters 1000 title list with the victory. He now trails only Rafael Nadal (26) and Roger Federer (21) in that category.

Remarkably, either Djokovic (6) or Nadal (4) has won each of the last ten Masters events.