Novak Djokovic completes his hat-trick at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
World number three, Novak Djokovic, continued his dream run in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday evening when he outplayed the top seed, Roger Federer, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. The second seed Serb took a mere 71 minutes
to win his third consecutive title at the Dubai Championships.
It was anticipated to be a tough contest in the final as both top seeded players faced each other. The world number two failed to prevail against the furry of the 23-year-old Serbian. Federer didn’t display his true class in the contest and was disposed
of by Djokovic with great command.
“It’s the first tournament where I have managed to win three straight titles," reflected Djokovic after the match, “I keep on playing really well here. I played a perfect match from the start.”
The contest soon started to become a one-sided affair as the Swiss maestro kept crumbling under Djokovic’s power hitting. The fiery Federer serve was not seen in the game and his first serve accuracy was 60 per cent, far below his standards. The Swiss number
one just managed to convert 53 per cent of his total serve points with Djokovic creating an inspiring figure of 73 per cent.
The opener was an error-ridden set for Federer as he threw plenty of his shots long and wide. Some errant backhand strokes let opportunities slip out of his fingers at crucial moments in the game. His Serb opponent also pushed him to commit errors.
Djokovic came out firing in the opening set of the match, serving with 85 per cent accuracy. He bagged 15 off 17 first serve points while the Swiss won just 61 per cent of his. Federer crafted no serve break chances in the opener and gave five opportunities
to his rival to do so.
An early serve break for Djokovic came at 2-1 when the top seed thumped a backhand into the net. Federer never came close enough to break his opponent during the rest of the first set. The Serb just dropped four points in his first four service games heading
to a 5-3 lead. Federer kept spilling errors in the ninth game when he was serving to stay in the set. A backhand from Djokovic ensured the first set to his name at 6-3.
The following set showed some signs of a comeback from the world number two. After squandering an early serve break chance, Federer later capitalized on his second chance to break the Serb at 3-1 when Djokovic tossed a backhand long. It looked as if the
contest was heading to a decisive third set before another momentum swing took place. The top seed dropped his serve percentage drastically to 52 per cent in the second set, letting his opponent bounce back.
Djokovic broke back to level the scores at 3-3 as Federer dumped an overhead into the net. Djokovic pushed Federer on the back foot by cracking his second serve break of the set at 5-4. The Serb served out the championship with ease, sealing the second set
at 6-3.
Djokovic accomplished his second consecutive victory against the Swiss maestro in the running ATP World Tour season. He outplayed Federer in the semi-final of the Australian Open last month and has a perfect 12-0 win-loss record in on the season.
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