Roger Federer defeats Novak Djokovic, advances to Dubai Championships final
Roger Federer snapped a three-match losing streak against Novak Djokovic. (Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images)
No. 8 Roger Federer rallied to beat No. 2 and defending champion Novak Djokovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday to advance to the final of the Dubai Championships. Federer will play No. 6 Tomas Berdych in Saturday’s final as the Swiss seeks his first hard-court title since the Western & Southern Open in August 2012.
After a slow start, Federer came back to earn his first victory against Djokovic when dropping the first set. The first two sets were decided by small margins, with some scintillating play from both men; they took advantage of the quick conditions to play some big-hitting, aggressive tennis.
Federer earned a 0-30 lead on Djokovic’s serve in the sixth game of the second set before a brief rain delay. When play resumed, the match turned completely in Federer’s favor. He went on to break and won 10 of the last 13 games for the victory.
Federer improved to 17-15 overall and 13-12 on hard courts against Djokovic. He also recorded his third top-10 victory of the season after beating Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian Open; Federer had four all of last season, including two at the ATP World Tour Finals. Djokovic, who lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, fell to 0-2 against top-10 players this year.
Follow our game-by-game analysis after the jump:
Third Set
12:02 p.m. ET | Roger Federer defeats Novak Djokovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
No one knows better than Federer how hard it is to close out a match against Djokovic. Sure enough, the Serb earns two break points. But he can’t convert either and two points later, Federer has match point. He fires a second serve wide and Djokovic goes for a backhand down the line that lands wide.
For the first time in his career, Federer beats Djokovic after losing the first set. He shakes his fist toward his box. This was a huge win for him, setting up a big opportunity tomorrow against Tomas Berdych in the final.
Final stat line:
Djokovic: 24 winners, 23 unforced errors, 8 for 17 at the net and 1 for 6 on break points.
Federer: 26 winners, 20 unforced errors, 11 for 17 at the net and 3 for 7 on break points.
11:58 a.m. ET | Djokovic holds, trails *5-2.
Another casual hold for Federer at 15 and he’s now won nine of the last 11 games, all coming since the rain delay. Djokovic responds with a love hold and Federer will serve for the match after the changeover.
11:53 a.m. ET | Federer breaks, leads *4-1.
Djokovic looks done and dusted. Another shaky service game gets to deuce and Federer ramps up the pressure. He earns a break point for a double-break lead, but Djokovic saves it at the net, forcing Federer to go for a lob that he hits long. But he earns another break point and this time when Djokovic approaches to Federer’s forehand — HUGE MISTAKE — the Swiss fires a cross-court pass right past him.
Roger Federer with a double-break lead on a fast hard court? We’ve seen Djokovic spoil his leads before, but I’m not sure he’ll do it here.
11:46 a.m. ET | Federer holds, leads 3-1*.
A bit of a charge by Djokovic to get to 30-all, but Federer still holds. At this point, it’s entirely mental for Djokovic. We’ll have to see if he can pull himself out of his rut. Aside from the early aggressive push to earn his lead, Federer hasn’t had to do anything special.
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