The count is 24 and running.

Novak Djokovic is still on his winning streak although the world number 1 gave him all he could handle.

This was exactly the kind of match that Djokovic would have had issues with even a year ago.  The warm Miami weather.  The slow conditions.  The humidity.

Everything seemed to favor Nadal who fixed his serving woes that caused his serve percentage to plummet two weeks ago in the desert of Indian Wells.  The one thing that was going against Nadal?  He had never won Miami.  He made the finals twice, losing once to Federer who came from two sets down to win 3 sets in a row, and once to Davydenko.

Like Indian Wells, Nadal looked sharp from the get-go.  Djokovic struggled to keep the balls in play and got down two breaks down.  He had opportunities in nearly every game to get a break, but couldn’t get the break.  He was finally able to get that one break.  Although he didn’t win the set, that win helped him believe that he could keep up with Nadal.

Djokovic was more relaxed in the second set, and managed to get an early break and ride that break to the second set.

From that point on, it was a battle of nerves with Nadal serving up in the third set, and Djokovic getting chances to break.  Nadal also had his chances to break, but it didn’t happen.  So this match, much like the epic 2009 Madrid match which left both players so exhausted that Nadal lost for the first time in many years to Federer on clay and then surrendered his French Open crown for the first time ever to Robin Soderling, came down to a tiebreak.

The tiebreak started unusually enough.  Nadal started the tiebreak but lost his service point.  Nadal replied by taking two points from Djokovic.  Then, Nadal had a double-fault, one of several in the match, and gave up the other point.  The tiebreak had started with 5 consecutive mini-breaks.  Djokovic held both his points to get up to 5-2, then had a 6-2 point before Nadal managed to get to 6-4, saving two match points.  Djokovic had a good serve to set up a powerful forehand and then win the tiebreak, 7-4.

At this point. the men’s tour heads to Europe where Nadal will play for the first time on clay, and we’ll see if Djokovic’s streak holds up on clay.  Djokovic plays his best tennis on hard courts.  However, he is a formidable clay court player as well.

Miami turns out to be one of those tournaments where 4 of the top 5 players will increase their points or keep even.  Last year, Federer lost early to Berdych.  This year, Federer made the semis.  Last year, Djokovic lost in the 2nd round to Rochus.  This year he won it.  Last year, Nadal lost to Roddick in the semis.  This year, he made the finals.  And Murray?  Well, he lost in the 2nd round last year and this year, so his points don’t change.  However, Soderling made the semis last year but this year he lost to Delpo in the third round.

Heading into the clay season, Roger has some soul-searching to do.  He didn’t fare well on clay last year.  His best tourney was Madrid where he lost in the finals.  Rafa had a stellar clay season winning three Masters 1000 events and the French Open.  Murray had an indifferent clay court season.  Djokovic did all right, but not as well as 2009.  The big question on everyone’s mind is whether Djokovic can continue his success on clay.

We shall see.

April 10 will start the Monte Carlo event which is a Masters 1000 event that usually kicks off the big tournaments in Europe.  There is a clay event in Houston and Morocco this upcoming week, so most of the top players will take that week off to rest and prep for Monte Carlo.