March 1, 2013 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg
Novak Djokovic won his 17th straight match win and will next attempt to capture his fourth title at the 2013 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after defeating the fourth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 7-6(4) for a place in his 55th tour-level final. Djokovic’s last loss came to Sam Querrey at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris in October 2012. For the first time in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 21-year history the top four seeds featured in the semifinals.
“I was very pleased with the performance overall and the way I handled myself in the tough moments," said Djokovic. "Mentally I stayed tough and believed that I could go all the way and win in straight sets. didn’t really allow myself to be negative. I have been very, very positive and confident, so I think that resulted with overall a really good performance."
Djokovic will play third-seeded Tomas Berdych in Saturday’s final. Berdych saved three match points to knock out second seed and five-time champion Roger Federer for his finals meeting with Djokovic. Berdych recorded his fifth win in his past eight meetings over Federer with a 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-4 victory in front of 5,000 tennis fans at the Dubai Tennis Stadium. The match lasted two hours and 20 minutes.
"I couldn’t be feeling any better,” said Berdych. “I would say [it was] almost in front of his home crowd and to be the one who won that match, it really feels great. I’m very pleased the way I played today.”
Berdych will next look to improve a 1-12 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against world number one and three-time former Dubai titlist Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s title match.
