At the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament in Ryadh, twenty-four-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-6 (7-5) in the third-place play-off. In order to take a 2-0 lead, Djokovic broke in the opening game and held serve in a closer second game with a running forehand winner. In the third game, Nadal held service to preserve his lead, but Djokovic made an incredible shot to break through and take a 3-1 lead.
Nadal held serve for 2-3 before producing a superb shot to stay in the sixth game, but Djokovic held serve with an ace to take a 4-2 lead. The former world number 1 broke Nadal to race out to a 5-2 lead before wrapping up the first set with a hold at 15.
Nadal pushed Djokovic to the limit in the second set and forced his Serbian opponent to the tie-break.
Djokovic broke again in the first game of the second set, but Nadal pulled back on serve to draw level to 1-1 before holding serve to take a 2-1 lead in the third game. Djokovic held serve at love to draw level to 2-2. Nadal earned two break points in the sixth game but Djokovic held serve to draw level to 3-3. Nadal pushed Djokovic to the limit, but Djokovic held serve at deuce to draw level to 4-4 before breaking serve to take a 5-4 lead. Nadal saved a match point before breaking Djokovic again. He held his service game to take a 6-5 lead, but Djokovic held serve to love to send the set to a tie-break. Djokovic earned a mini-break to take a 5-4, but Nadal pulled back to draw to draw level to 5-5. Djokovic came out on top with a mini-break to win a hard-fought tie-break by the scoreline 7-5.
The match is not an official tournament and won’t be added to their previous 60 head-to-head matches. Djokovic leads 31-29 in their official Head-to-head series. Djokovic beats Nadal 6-1 6-4 in their last official match at this year’s Olympic Games in Paris before beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final.