The usual suspects were left standing at the business end of this week’s season-opening Qatar ExxonMobil Open. In the final, World No. 5 Rafael Nadal fell to top seed Novak Djokovic, who had beaten World No. 6 Tomas Berdych in the semis.

The fourth semi-finalist? None other than World No. 94 Illya Marchenko. After notching a trio of wins over Top 50 opponents, including a comeback victory against defending champion David Ferrer, Marchenko’s captivating run vaulted him into the spotlight. The Ukrainian’s story of determination and perseverance is equally as intriguing.

“I am from Donetsk and there is a war there,” the 28 year old, who now lives in Slovakia, explained. “It’s not a good situation right now. I haven’t been there for almost two years. It was easy to get residence (in Slovakia) and I have a lot of friends there… My coach (Tibor Toth) is from there. I’m working with him one year already.”

An industrial city in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk is located near the Russian border, which has been a site of great turmoil in the War of Donbass. The conflict originated in early 2014 between separatist forces and goverment loyalists and has prevented Marchenko from returning to his homeland. Despite the issues at home, he says he is focusing fully on his play on the court. His mental approach has not wavered.

“Right now I don’t think about that anymore. I accept the situation what I have and I’m really enjoying living in Slovakia. The people of Slovakia have really welcomed me, and I’m really appreciating everyone. Everyone is really helping me there, so I’m happy and I can focus on my tennis. I have everything to work hard and to get the results.”

Having returned to the semi-finals of an ATP World Tour event for the first time in nearly six years, since St. Petersburg 2010, Marchenko is closing in on his career-high position of World No. 67 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. What started late last year with a run to the second round at the US Open as a qualifier and a title at the Mons Challenger, Marchenko’s surprise result in Doha was in fact anything but an aberration.

“I went to mountains with my fitness coach,” Marchenko said of his off-season training. “Last year it was different. I was with my full team, my tennis coach and my physio. It was a bit kind of investment for me.

“I’m really happy it’s paying off that quick. And that’s it. The rest of the preparation was the same. I was staying at home in Bratislava and I was practising with the same guys. My coach was at every practice with me and I was doing my fitness as usual.

“The way I played this week helped me a lot and I’m gaining confidence match after match.”

Henri Kontinen and John Peers are within striking distance of an ATP World Tour doubles title in their first tournament together after defeating Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt 6-4, 6-3 in the semi-finals of Brisbane on Saturday. The Finnish-Australian partnership did not face a break point and closed out the win after just over an hour.

Standing in their way will be the All-Aussie duo of James Duckworth and Chris Guccione, who advanced to the final without striking a ball after Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori withdrew due to Dimitrov’s shoulder soreness. Duckworth and Guccione have a chance to score their maiden title in Brisbane after going 0-4 together in previous tournaments.

Paire Gets Second Chance In Chennai

Benoit Paire, who was eliminated in the singles semi-finals earlier on Saturday, will get a second crack at a trophy in Chennai. The Frenchman teamed up with Austin Krajicek to defeat Somdev Devvarman and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 7-5, 7-6(4) in the doubles semi-finals. They will face third seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin on Sunday.

Krajicek is making his first ATP World Tour doubles final appearance, while Paire is 1-0 after winning the 2013 Chennai final with Stan Wawrinka, the man who eliminated him from singles contention.

Rafael Nadal was left speechless following a 6-1, 6-2 defeat to Novak Djokovic in the final of the season-opening Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

The 2014 champion has enjoyed great success in Doha over the years, also adding four doubles crowns, but the Spaniard had no answer for the Serb’s suffocating tactics and ruthless display from the baseline. Nadal lauded the World No. 1’s performance as perhaps the greatest he’s ever witnessed.

“The match is easy to analyse,” said Nadal. “I played against a player who did everything perfectly. I don’t know anybody who’s ever played tennis like this. Since I know this sport I’ve never seen somebody playing at this level. So I just congratulate him and that’s it.

“I know I can do a few things better, but the real thing is with these conditions, playing during the night and with the feeling of the ball here, it’s so difficult to have chances against him playing like this. It is probably impossible.

“When somebody is better than you, you accept it and you work to try to improve yourself. That’s it. I am not frustrated. I look at the things very clearly and I am always honest. Today he’s better than me without a doubt.”

“It did feel as close to perfection as it can get,” Djokovic responded, when told of Nadal’s comments. “From the first to the last point I managed to impose my own tactical approach and strategy and what I have prepared myself for, and the conditions were played to my favour… There are those days when you see a tennis ball as a watermelon, and I guess this was that kind of day.” 

Following a disappointing 2015 campaign by the former World No. 1’s standards, Nadal is looking to a fresh start in the new season. Despite the defeat, the Manacor native looks to the positives after reaching his 99th tour-level final.

“The real thing is I had a positive week. I am playing well and I am going to keep working hard to try to be ready for Australia. I think I will be. I am motivated for it.

“He played so good. Accept it and congratulate him. Nothing left to say. The only thing is the opponent is better than me today. And here especially. Let’s see in Australia and let’s see later during the whole season. I’m going to fight and I feel ready to fight. I feel ready and excited about this fight and I hope to be closer.”

Nadal will enter his 11th Australian Open seeded fifth, seeking a second title (2009).

Novak Djokovic made sure the lone blip on his jaw-dropping 2015 resume was a distant memory, routing rival Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-2 for the season-opening Qatar ExxonMobil Open title.

The World No. 1 erased memories of a quarter-final exit in Doha last year (l. to Karlovic), capturing his sixth consecutive ATP World Tour title and 60th overall at the tour-level. He became just the 10th player in the Open Era to reach the 60-title milestone, drawing level with Andre Agassi in a tie for ninth.

60 Titles Club (Open Era)

“I haven’t dropped a set the entire week,” said Djokovic. “When it was most needed against one of my biggest rivals, I managed to play the best tennis in a match where I fought for the trophy. So it does definitely give me a great deal of confidence for the rest of the season.

“I’m playing the tennis of my life, and I will try to nurture and cherish those moments on the court. As I said in the ceremony, I will use this confidence level in every tournament that I play. I know that it can’t go forever, but I’m not thinking too much ahead of myself.” 

No ATP World Tour match-up has featured more meetings than Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, and the Serb and the Spaniard wasted no time in renewing their rivalry in 2016. With the Doha trophy on the line on Saturday, Djokovic was in cruise control from the start.

Djokovic erased a break point in the opening game of the match, stepping into the court to rifle a penetrating cross-court backhand and crashing the net to put away a volley. The Serb did not waste any time in putting the Spaniard on the back foot, racing to a 0/40 lead in the next game after striking a sublime drop shot to draw Nadal out of position. He would secure the first break of the match two points later and cruised to a second break for 5-1. Djokovic closed out the opening set to love after 31 minutes, firing 16 winners and four aces.

Djokovic continued to apply pressure on Nadal, suffocating the Spaniard from the baseline with a ruthless display of aggression. He converted his third break point in the opening game of the second set and secured another break to all but seal the match at 4-1. He would wrap up the match after 73 minutes, striking a total 30 winners to just 13 unforced errors.

The Serb leads the historic FedEx ATP Head2Head for the first time at 24-23. He has now claimed 11 consecutive sets since Nadal prevailed in the 2014 Roland Garros final.

In addition, Djokovic hoisted his first ATP World Tour 250 crown since triumphing on home soil in Belgrade 2011. It marks the 11th consecutive year he has claimed an ATP World Tour title.

Nadal, who was competing in his 99th final, was bidding for his 68th tour-level title. The 2014 Doha champion (d. Monfils) also finished runner-up in 2010 (l. to Davydenko). Spaniards had won the past two titles in the Qatari capital, with David Ferrer emerging victorious in 2015.

“We will see during the whole season,” said Nadal. “Today, he’s better than me. We will see in two weeks or we will see in five months. The only thing that you can do is wait that the opponent is not playing like this all the time. That is difficult to play like this all the time. It’s obvious. I am going to wait for my moment.”

Top seed Stan Wawrinka stretched his Chennai winning streak to 11 matches and 22 sets with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Benoit Paire in the semi-finals on Saturday. The Swiss improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against his good friend to 6-1. The pair captured the Chennai doubles title three years ago.

“I thought I played well today and I am happy with my level,” Wawrinka said. “It’s never easy to play against [Paire], but we always enjoy playing against each other, and it’s nice to share this moment with a friend.”

Paire also came into the semi-finals without dropping a set, but the 2011, 2014 and 2015 Chennai champion performed flawlessly against a familiar opponent. Wawrinka struck six aces, saved his only break point faced and broke Paire twice to secure the win in 65 minutes.