World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will play No. 2-ranked Roger Federer for the 37th time on Saturday in a blockbuster final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Federer has a 19-17 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and has won two of their past three meetings. Federer will attempt to claim his seventh Dubai crown and Djokovic will aim to lift his 50th trophy, and his fourth at the Aviation Club.
In his eighth straight Dubai semi-final, Djokovic knocked out fourth seed Tomas Berdych 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 in just over two hours on Friday night. He is now 34-4 lifetime at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament.
Djokovic required just 23 minutes to win a perfect set, constantly putting Berdych on the back foot in baseline rallies. Djokovic hit 12 winners and lost just eight points.
Berdych won his first game, on serve to 15, at the start of the second set. But then got broken in the third game, only to regain his composure to take a 3-2 lead. Djokovic was being rushed. Berdych went on to take a 5-3 lead, but was broken to 30.
By cutting down on his unforced errors, Berdych hung in and capitalised in the 12th game – on his second set point opportunity – to clinch the second set.
At 2-2 in the decider, Djokovic made his move. Staying close to the baseline, he slid into successive groundstroke winners to set up three break point chances. Berdych faltered in a long rally, striking a backhand long. Although the Czech kept pressing, Djokovic was not to be denied.
Djokovic also beat Berdych in the 2011 semi-finals and 2013 final.
( Courtesy of ATP and Original Link - http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/02/8/Dubai-Friday-Djokovic-Berdych.aspx )
Topics: Atp World Tour, Borna Coric, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Dubai final, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Tennis, Tomas Berdych
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