Novak Djokovic through to last eight of Dubai Tennis Championships 2011
World number three Novak Djokovic of Serbia overcame his Spanish opponent Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in a hard-fought battle to qualify for the quarterfinals of the ongoing Dubai Tennis Championships 2011 on Wednesday.
Before the match, the pair had played each other twice, with Djokovic coming out on top on both occasions. They last met in the round of 16 at the ATP Masters Series Miami in 2007, where the Serbian demolished his Spanish rival 6-0, 6-3.
This win improves Djokovic’s winning streak to 11 matches. This streak includes his victories in Serbia’s Davis Cup final against France and his Australian Open 2011 triumph. His unbeaten run in Dubai is now 12 matches.
Djokovic, the two time defending champion, cruised through the first set, winning it 6-3. The Serbian hit 73 per cent of the first serves and won 89 per cent of the points on his first serve. He did not face any break point in the first set while his opponent
managed to save only 1 of the 2 break points he faced.
In a complete reversal, the second set was dominated by the Spaniard, who raced to a 3-0 lead and broke the Serb twice to claim the set 6-2. Lopez was allowed to get back into the match with the help of Djokovic’s 18 unforced errors. The Spaniard played
an aggressive game in the second set and dominated most of the points, coming to the net often. His serving was immaculate and he won 90 per cent of the points on his first serve and 70 per cent on the second.
Djokovic broke early to take the lead in the final set, but Lopez broke back and levelled the set at 3-3. At that point, the Serbian rose to the challenge and broke the Spaniard in the next game to take a decisive 4-3 lead. He then held his serve to consolidate
and won the set 6-4.
“To be honest, I was a little bit surprised with the way he was returning tonight,” Djokovic said in the post-match press conference. “He was getting a lot of balls back and he was making me play an extra shot. In the rallies, we were quite even towards
the end. So I'm just fortunate to go through.”
The Serb added, “I think my coach will be happy with how many times I went to the net tonight, even though maybe it wasn't more successful. But I was going there and trying to change things. We're working on it.”
Djokovic will next meet unseeded German Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals.
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