Djokovic sets up final with Murray

Source: Agencies | April 5, 2009, Sunday |

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AN out-of-sorts Roger Federer smashed his racket in frustration as he fell to a 6-3, 2-6, 3-6 defeat to Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, on Friday.

Djokovic will face Andy Murray in the final after the Briton notched a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro.

Murray produced some outstanding defense, winning points twice after returning on smashes, and although he faded in the second set he dominated the third.

Del Potro had reached the semifinal after eliminating world No. 1 Rafael Nadal on Thursday and the Key Biscayne crowd, hoping to see at least one of the top two in the final, vocally backed Federer.

But the Swiss made 47 unforced errors and did not look like the man who dominated the sport for so long.

After winning the first set comfortably against an error-prone Djokovic in just 25 minutes, Federer faded badly in the second.

In windy conditions, he won just 57 percent of first-serve points in the second set and it got worse in the third as Djokovic broke at the first attempt.

Down 0-30 in the third game of the final set, Federer played a forehand long and responded by hurling his racket to the ground, totally mangling it and drawing jeers from the crowd.

Four years ago at the same venue, Federer was down two sets to Nadal when he smashed his racket and then came back to win in a five-set thriller in the final.

Although Federer got the crowd going and won two games in a row from 0-4 down, Djokovic kept his cool to secure just his third win in 10 attempts against Federer.

Federer thought the conditions contributed to his defeat. "I thought I was playing okay in the first set but it was always going to be tough in the wind," he said.

"I already felt it in the warm up. It was coming across the court. I struggled heavily. It was tough."

Djokovic was pleased by the way he kept his composure once he had got the upper hand.

"He just wasn't playing anything really special. He was just playing really wisely and changing the pace and playing a lot of short slices on my backhand. That's where he opened up the opportunity to make offensive shots," the third seed said.

Murray mixed up his approach in the first set with plenty of slices and intelligent angles against the tall Argentine.

Murray broke at the first two attempts, producing some remarkable defensive shots to foil Del Potro's aggressive hitting.

Tennis

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Djokovic sets up final with Murray

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