Rafael Nadal: Gunning for a Third Indian Wells Title Against Novak Djokovic

Rafael Nadal must be feeling quite content right now. He's made his way relatively unscathed to the final and has the opportunity to do several things.

Winning his third title here at Indian Wells will definitely further consolidate his No. 1 ranking for the next few months, while adding another valuable piece of silverware to his illustrious Masters Series collection—he stands as the all-time leader of the winner's board, with 18 victories.

The alternate year seems to favour the Spaniard, who triumphed here in California in 2007 and in 2009. It would just seem his cosmological fortune then, should he indeed win tomorrow.

Even as the heavens seem to be opening up, however, victory is far from certain. Indeed, Nadal faces tomorrow an impending and highly daunting task—one which the tennis gods have reserved alone for him to do.

He faces the Serbinator, the dampener of Swiss precision, Novak Djokovic.

With his win over Roger Federer yesterday, not only did the Serb secure the No. 2 ranking, but he extended his match winning streak to 17-0 this season. It is down to two men, and whether Djokovic should come out tomorrow 18-0 in 2011 will depend very much on Rafael Nadal.

Of course, the signs are promising, and the matchup should be just stunning—Nadal's victory over Juan Martin Del Potro, ending a highly irrelevant three match losing streak against the Argentine, was certainly impressive. As much as Del Potro is still only returning to the tour, he had enjoyed some success this week, and his forehand had regained its former brutality.

Nadal's win was adept and business-like, a straight sets shootout 6-4, 6-4. When he faces Djokovic tomorrow, nonetheless, he will have none of the consolation of playing someone who is only trying to find his form.

In fact, it may be suggested that Nadal will be going in as the underdog against the on-form player of the season.

The matchup and chess game out there will be intriguing. Djokovic has typically thrived on being aggressive against Nadal, but he will surely find in the Spaniard the tennis' defender par excellence.

The story of recent months has been of Djokovic's agility on the baseline and his remarkable defensive abilities. This was all well against tennis' most superlative of attackers, Federer in the semis. But against Nadal simply getting the balls back will not cut it.

Of course, the Serb will be highly confident and especially so in his record against Nadal on hard courts, where he has managed thrashings—including a 6-3, 6-2 blowout in 2008 here at Indian Wells.

He will likely find that Nadal is a different beast from those days, however. The Spaniard, after all, has defeated him in their last two encounters—on a hard court—of which the former is most telling, the victory at the US Open last year.

If that match is anything to go by, even Djokovic's very best tennis on a hard court will make little dent in the unflappable determination of Nadal.

We will be hoping, it goes without saying, that both guys come out playing for their lives Should it be so tomorrow, suffice it to say that fans will be treated to genuine tennis eye-candy.