Points won by each set: [ 31-16, 30-34, 31-20 ]
Points won directly on serve:
12 % Nadal – 8 of 66
15 % Djokovic – 15 of 96
[1] Djokovic needed 5.5 hours to win his previous two matches while [2] Nadal only 3 hours, having won his first two matches with extreme ease. It was a decisive factor, the Serb was playing the 1st set like he mainly wanted to check his body with awareness that competing vs Nadal three hours at 100% was impossible. As the 2nd set began, Djokovic was moving faster & hitting the ball harder. After dropping six straight games, he held for the first time with three aces and a service winner! Also with the significant help of the serve he escaped from 0/40 at 3-all and a mini-match point at 4-all. He couldn’t stay on equal terms with much fresher opponent in the decider though. Actually that final separated them in the end of the season at the top of the tennis world.
Nadal’s route to his 81st title:
W Novak Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
S Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4
Q Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-0
3 Nikolaz Basilashvili 6-1, 6-0
2 Jeremy Chardy 6-0, 6-1