Rafael Nadal will attempt to capture his first ATP World Tour hard-court title for two years on Saturday when he plays familiar foe Novak Djokovic in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final. “I know if I’m playing well, I am going to have opportunities,” said Nadal. The top seeds will meet for a record 47^th time on the ATP World Tour. The series is currently tied 23-all, with Djokovic winning the past four matches.

Nadal, who won the 2014 title, booked a place in his 99th tour-level final (67-31 record) by knocking out World No. 94 Illya Marchenko, appearing in his third ATP World Tour semi-final. 6-3, 6-4 in 78 minutes.

“I did a few good things, and I’m happy with the victory, being in the first final of the season in the first official tournament is something great,” said Nadal. “For sure it’s important for my confidence, confirming that the end of the 2015 season had been something realistic and [in] the beginning of 2016 I [am] still playing well.”

Nadal opened up a 3-0 lead in the first set, which he won in 35 minutes. With a string of winners, Marchenko recovered from 15/40 in the opening game of the second set, but Nadal soon applied the pressure and broke to love for a 3-2 advantage.

Marchenko defeated defending champion David Ferrer in the first round and overcame No. 7 seed Jeremy Chardy in the quarter-finals

Meanwhile, Djokovic improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Tomas Berdych to 22-2 by downing the Czech 6-3, 7-6(3) in the semi-finals. Djokovic dropped serve in the opening game of the match, but did not falter on serve the rest of the way and closed out the win in just under two hours.

Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez captured their first ATP World Tour team title on Friday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. It was Marc Lopez’s third Doha crown, following runs to the 2009 and 2011 titles (w/Nadal).

The third-seeded Spaniards defeated fourth seeds Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya 6-4, 6-3 in the 66-minute doubles final on Friday night. They split $64,420 in prize money and earned 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points.

“It’s my third title, but first with Feli. I love playing in Doha,” said Marc Lopez. “Every year I play well here. I will be back for sure.”

Feliciano Lopez said, “It was our first time playing together in a while, but today in the final we played some of our best tennis. Yesterday we played well against Jamie [Murray] and Bruno [Soares] but we really played our best today.”

Almost 12 years on from their lone ATP World Tour team final (2004 Valencia), the Spaniards broke Peya in the first game, but failed to convert three set point opportunities at 5-3 en route to winning the 35-minute set.

Poor volleying by Petzschner saw Peya lose his serve to 30 in the third game of the second set. At 3-2, Marc Lopez recovered from 0/40 by winning four straight points and the Spaniards went on to clinch Petzschner’s serve to 30 for the championship.

Feliciano Lopez captured his first doubles title since 2004 Stockholm (w/Verdasco) and is now 2-7 lifetime in doubles finals, while Marc Lopez is 11-14 overall. They teamed up together this week for the first time since March 2012 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami.

Petzschner and Peya, who beat World No. 1s Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in the semi-finals, were also contesting their second final as a team. In 2008, they finished runners up in Vienna (l. to Mirnyi-A. Ram).

Petzschner is now 6-3 in doubles finals and Peya is 14-21, having lost the 2014 Doha final (w/Soares). They shared $33,860 and add 150 points.

Marach/Martin Into Chennai Final

Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin defeated top seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 4-6, 7-5, 10-5 in the semi-finals of the Aircel Chennai Open on Friday. The No. 3 seeds were down a set and a break, and broke back when Klaasen/Ram served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

In quarter-final action, Somdev Devvarman and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan won an all-Indian matchup against N. Sriram Balaji and Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 1-6, 10-6. They will play Austin Krajicek and Benoit Paire for a place in the final.

Stan Wawrinka stretched his winning streak at the Aircel Chennai Open to 10 matches, prevailing 6-4,6-4 against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Friday. The top seed secured the win in 77 minutes and improved to 7-3 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.

Wawrinka’s serving power was on display, as he fired 14 aces and only dropped seven points when he landed a first serve. The Spaniard converted on his only break point of the match, but the Swiss went 3-for-9 on break opportunities to take the win.

Attempting to stop Wawrinka’s run in the semi-finals will be old friend and occasional doubles partner Benoit Paire, who eliminated qualifier Thomas Fabbiano in the Italian’s first ATP World Tour quarter-final appearance.

The No. 3 seed also struck 14 aces on Friday, but only found the court with 44 per cent of first serves and needed to fend off six of 10 break points to advance. It will be something to improve upon against Wawrinka, as the Swiss has won five of six meetings against the Frenchman. Their most recent meeting came in the final of Tokyo last fall. Wawrinka won 6-2, 6-4.

Dominic Thiem awaits the winner of Roger Federer or Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the final of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp.

Eighth seed Thiem, who lifted three ATP World Tour titles in 2015, knocked out third seed Marin Cilic 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 on Friday in two hours. He converted one of his eight break point opportunities in the final game.

“[It] was a very good match from me,” said Thiem. “Today [was] a big test. [A] bad first set where he destroyed me, but then I’m really happy about the win.”

Thiem finished last year as the youngest player (22) in the Top 20 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 20. He was also the first Austrian to place in the Top 20 since Jurgen Melzer (at No. 11) in 2010.

Top seed and defending champion Federer has a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage against Dimitrov. The pair met in last year’s Brisbane semi-finals.

Novak Djokovic isn’t the only one taking home trophies these days. Following his quarter-final win on Thursday in Doha, the World No. 1 presented a trophy to Qatar ExxonMobil Open Tournament Director Karim Alami in recognition of his event being named among the Tournaments of the Year in the 2015 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon.

The Qatar ExxonMobil Open (ATP World Tour 250 category) is joined by the BNP Paribas Open (1000), Aegon Championships (500) and St. Petersburg Open (250) as the most favoured ATP World Tour events in their respective tournament categories. It marks the first time since 2004 and the fourth time overall (since 1986) that two events have been named joint winners in the ATP World Tour 250 category.

“The Qatar Tennis Federation and I feel very proud and honoured to receive this award,” said Alami. “Our aim is always to make a great event where players can feel relaxed and at home, where they can perform at their best, where they want to return year after year. We are always listening to the opinions and feedback from the organisation and from the players and trying to learn from our mistakes and past experiences to keep improving and to keep raising the bar every year.”

The Tournament of the Year awards, voted annually by ATP players, recognise the leading standards set across the three tournament categories on the Tour. The Qatar ExxonMobil Open is hosting its 24th edition this week, boasting a field that includes four Top-10 players: Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer.

Visit the official ATP World Tour Awards section on ATPWorldTour.com.

No. 4 seed Milos Raonic is into the Brisbane International semi-finals for the second consecutive year after downing 78^th-ranked Lucas Pouille of France 6-4, 6-4 on Friday in Pat Rafter Arena.

A day earlier, after putting the wraps on a three-set comeback against qualifier Ivan Dodig, the Canadian had spoken of his new alignment with coach Carlos Moya, of what he hoped the ‘98 Roland Garros champion might add to his arsenal. The 25-year-old said that with the Spaniard’s help he hoped to mix things up on his serve, come in more and put more mid-court balls away, find ways to open up the court with his forehand.

In other words, he’s looking to be more aggressive.

He put that into practice on Friday, putting pressure on his opponent from the very start. He surrendered just three points on his serve in the 36-minute opening set (20 for 23), a break at 1-all the difference.

Pouille, at 21 the youngest of 10 Frenchmen in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, fell behind early in the second set, too. Raonic registered breaks in the first and seventh games, and wrapped up the match with his 12^th ace of the afternoon. In all, he won 27 of 29 first-serve points (93%).

“I think yesterday I was being aggressive and coming forward,” said Raonic of his win over Dodig. “Today I thought I came forward as well, but I was probably more efficient.”

Up next for Raonic is Bernard Tomic, who upset No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori in three tough sets.

Tomic once said that if he played Nishikori 10 times, he might beat him once, maybe twice. Well, the 18^th-ranked Australian finally broke through on Friday in Brisbane, getting his first win over the Japanese star in three FedEx ATP Head2Heads 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

With the two-hour upset, the No. 7-seed avenged a loss to Nishikori at this same tournament in the very same round in 2015.

Nine of Tomic’s 14 aces came in the first set alone, but Nishikori managed to level the match in the lopsided second set, capitalising on two of three break-point chances. But Tomic would secure two breaks of his own in the third set at 1-0 and 2-1 to put the match out of reach. In all, he saved eight of 11 break points and won 45 of 62 (72%) first-serve points.

“I didn’t play my best tennis today, but I think he played good tennis, too,” said Nishikori. “He served really well. He saved many important points with his serve. He was running side to side and he got so many balls back, so it was really tough. First tournament of the year, so I’m not that worried.”

Tomic is now 7-32 versus Top-10 competition after snapping Nishikori’s streak of seven straight wins over Australian opponents.