Federer Advances to Dubai Finals in Win Over Djokovic
Roger Federer defeated world number two Novak Djokovic for the first time in 18 months 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final. Federer advances to face Tomas Berdych, a 7-5, 7-5 semifinals winner over Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Federer had not beaten Djokovic since the finals of the 2012 Western & Southern Open, and takes a 17-15 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Berdych returns to the Dubai finals for the second consecutive year, and just last year, defeated Federer in the semis. Federer holds an 11-6 lifetime record over Berdych.
“I think I was able to play a bit more aggressively as the match went on,” said Federer. “I knew I was in a bit of trouble (after the first set) and not looking good at all, because he has a tendency to really run with it and play more freely on your serve. He plays very dangerous.”
Berdych is coming off his ninth ATP World Tour title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament two weeks ago in Rotterdam and has a 16-2 record in 2014.
"Philipp was serving really well [in the second set], very solid and didn't give me many chances at all on his serve,” said Berdych. “Then I got my one chance in the last game and I took it."
Having beaten Andy Murray in the Australian Open quarter-finals, it is the first time in his career that Federer has prevailed against two top five players before March.
“This is big. This is a big step in the right direction for me,” said Federer. “It gives me a lot of confidence, I hope. Physically I'm doing very well again, still holding up perfectly, and clearly it's been a lot of tennis now again this week. I just hope I can finish it well tomorrow.”
