Federer Preps for Dubai Semis Matchup Against Djokovic
Roger Federer advanced on to the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Thursday, defeating Lukas Rosol, 6-2, 6-2 in just under an hour. With the win, Federer sets up a semifinals clash with Novak Djokovic, a walkover winner over Mikhail Youzhny when Youzhny became ill and was forced to withdraw.
"We know each other very well, and we've played each other everywhere and [on] all the surfaces, you name it,” said Federer of his semifinal opponent. “I think we always play the match-up actually very good, because we play explosive, aggressive tennis, so there is always some shot-making going on. I'm looking forward to the match. One match, best of three sets on a court like this, it's a bit of ‘let's see what happens’, anyway. We both know that."
Federer holds a slight 16-15 edge lifetime over Djokovic, who comes into the match seeking his 550th career victory.
The other semifinalists in Dubai are the third-seeded Tomas Berdych who will meet the seventh-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. Berdych was a winner Thursday over the fifth-seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-4, 6-3, while Kohlschreiber recorded his 300th career win over wild card Malek Jaziri 6-2, 6-3. Berdych is 7-1 over his career against Kohlschreiber.
"It's always great to win many matches on the tour, especially a few rounds in a row," said Kohlschreiber, who won 26 of his 28 first service points en route to his milestone win. "I think I produced a very solid and good performance today. It's great that I have 300 victories under my belt."
