Novak Djokovic outmuscles Juan Martin Del Potro to reach the final – Dubai Tennis Championships 2013
Reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic, was expected to go through a tester in the semi-final round against the former world number four, Juan Martin Del Potro. However, the Serbian juggernaut carried on his sublime form and cruised through the contest, registering victory in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(4). Djokovic took one hour and 44 minutes to book a spot in the title match of the ATP World Tour 500 event in Dubai, UAE.
A much stiff contest was anticipated between these contenders but fourth seed Del Potro couldn’t deliver the best of his game on Friday. He was off to a pretty ordinary start in the opening set, caught up a bit in the following set and then fell apart in the crunch moments of the contest. On the other hand, the world number one displayed his natural aggressive game and cashed in his opportunities to keep moving forward. He was pleased to reach the title match of the tournament in Dubai, where he was defeated in the semi-final round last year by Andy Murray of Great Britain.
“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."
The contest took off with successful serve holds in from both sides in the opening five games. However, Djokovic drew first blood in the sixth game and broke into a 4-2 lead. He held his next two serves comprehensively and bagged the opening set at 6-3. Del Potro broke the Serbian serve twice in the following set but have to face the same number of break points from his rival. He managed to drag the second set into a tie-break but then stumbled in the end moments to finish the contest at 6-7(4).
It was the Serbian’s eighth victory over Del Potro and the first one this year. He outplayed the Argentinean number one on four different occurrences in 2012 ATP season and now holds 8-2 lead in the all-time head-to-head series.
Djokovic will take on the Czech number one tennis player, Tomas Berdych, in the title match of 2013 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Berdych registered a huge upset in the semi-finals by overcoming the world number two, Roger Federer.
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