Federer races into Dubai final
February 27, 2011, Sunday
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NOVAK Djokovic will put his unbeaten record in 2011 on the line against Roger Federer in the Dubai Championships final after both won their semifinals on Friday.
Federer's dominance over Richard Gasquet of France continued with a 6-2, 7-5 victory, while Djokovic beat a hobbling Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, whose leg injury forced him to retire with the score 6-7 (5), 6-2, 4-2.
Djokovic will be looking to make it two in a row against Federer, who he beat in the semifinals on the way to winning his second grand slam title at the Australian Open last month.
"I lost maybe three times before that to him," Djokovic said. "So I don't think that he will think too much about that match, because he hasn't lost that often in the last five, six years in grand slams."
The No. 3-ranked Serb has won all 13 matches he has played this year. Federer's only loss in 15 matches was to Djokovic. The two players have won six of the last eight Dubai titles between them.
"He's been playing well," Federer said of his rival. "Maybe a bit of an up and down performance here this last week, but he's been playing some day matches, some night matches against some tricky opponents, and that obviously makes it harder ... Look, again his class showed. He made it to another final."
Of the two, Federer has played the more consistent and dominant tennis this week. Coming into his match against Gasquet, Federer had not dropped a set and had won 28 of 29 service games.
He also had a 7-1 record against Gasquet and started strong on Friday against the 24-year-old Frenchman.
Federer broke twice to take the first easily, but Gasquet turned things around in the second with an improved serve that produce six aces. He broke Federer to go up 5-3 and the match appeared to be heading for a third set before Federer took over, helped by an attack of the jitters from Gasquet.
Federer took advantage of a double fault and several unforced errors to break back.
"Yeah, I had my chance at 5-3. I (made) some bad choices," Gasquet said. "I went to the net two times and I did a double fault. Against him, it's over ... After, we did a long point and I was a little bit tired after it. The match turned."
Federer then broke the Frenchman's serve again to go up 6-5 and closed it out with a love game.
"Yeah, I was very happy about my performance from the start. I felt I was hitting the ball well," Federer said. "Obviously should have gone or could have gone three sets, but I was able to avoid that. Then he had a bit of a slump toward the end, which I was able to take advantage of."
In Delray Beach, Florida, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina advanced to his third consecutive semifinal by beating Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-4, 6-4 in the Delray Beach Championships on Friday.
Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, reached the San Jose and Memphis semifinals the past two weeks. He'll next face Mardy Fish, who beat Alejandro Falla of Colombia, 6-1, 6-4.
Del Potro is making a comeback from wrist surgery.
Federer's dominance over Richard Gasquet of France continued with a 6-2, 7-5 victory, while Djokovic beat a hobbling Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, whose leg injury forced him to retire with the score 6-7 (5), 6-2, 4-2.
Djokovic will be looking to make it two in a row against Federer, who he beat in the semifinals on the way to winning his second grand slam title at the Australian Open last month.
"I lost maybe three times before that to him," Djokovic said. "So I don't think that he will think too much about that match, because he hasn't lost that often in the last five, six years in grand slams."
The No. 3-ranked Serb has won all 13 matches he has played this year. Federer's only loss in 15 matches was to Djokovic. The two players have won six of the last eight Dubai titles between them.
"He's been playing well," Federer said of his rival. "Maybe a bit of an up and down performance here this last week, but he's been playing some day matches, some night matches against some tricky opponents, and that obviously makes it harder ... Look, again his class showed. He made it to another final."
Of the two, Federer has played the more consistent and dominant tennis this week. Coming into his match against Gasquet, Federer had not dropped a set and had won 28 of 29 service games.
He also had a 7-1 record against Gasquet and started strong on Friday against the 24-year-old Frenchman.
Federer broke twice to take the first easily, but Gasquet turned things around in the second with an improved serve that produce six aces. He broke Federer to go up 5-3 and the match appeared to be heading for a third set before Federer took over, helped by an attack of the jitters from Gasquet.
Federer took advantage of a double fault and several unforced errors to break back.
"Yeah, I had my chance at 5-3. I (made) some bad choices," Gasquet said. "I went to the net two times and I did a double fault. Against him, it's over ... After, we did a long point and I was a little bit tired after it. The match turned."
Federer then broke the Frenchman's serve again to go up 6-5 and closed it out with a love game.
"Yeah, I was very happy about my performance from the start. I felt I was hitting the ball well," Federer said. "Obviously should have gone or could have gone three sets, but I was able to avoid that. Then he had a bit of a slump toward the end, which I was able to take advantage of."
In Delray Beach, Florida, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina advanced to his third consecutive semifinal by beating Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-4, 6-4 in the Delray Beach Championships on Friday.
Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, reached the San Jose and Memphis semifinals the past two weeks. He'll next face Mardy Fish, who beat Alejandro Falla of Colombia, 6-1, 6-4.
Del Potro is making a comeback from wrist surgery.
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