Novak Djokovic vs. Roger Federer: semi-final preview – Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2011
Top tennis stars are ready to take of the 2012 ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season and Mubadala World Tennis Championship appears to be a perfect place for getting warmed up before going all guns blazing in the next year. The opening day of the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi witnessed two of the quarter-final matches and the semi-finals will be played on Friday night to determine the finalists.
The much anticipated opening match on Friday night will feature the world number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, taking on the former top ranked player, Roger Federer of Switzerland. The two tennis titans will encounter for a place in the final of the $250,000 winner-takes-all exhibition event, to be played on Saturday night.
The match will be played on the indoor hard courts of The Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex at the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirites and a house-full is expected to witness the battle of supremacy. Djokovic had a memorable 2011 ATP season, winning a lot of 10 championship titles and claiming the ATP Player of the Year Award. His performance in his last two matches resulted in a losses but the mighty Serbian will desire to get back in his winning groove before stepping in the 2012 ATP season.
Federer leads the head-to-head series against Djokovic by 14-10 but the top ranked Serb stood victorious in four out of five encounters he had with the Swiss this year. Djokovic took down Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to take off his 2011 season and then nailed two more victories over the former world number one in Dubai and Indian Wells. He was on verge of breaking the legendary John McEnroe’s record of 42-match winning streak but Federer shattered his hopes with a crushing victory in the semi-final of Roland Garros this summer.
The most recent and emphatic encounter between these two took place in semi-final of the US Open this season. Federer reeled off the opening two sets and even reach the match point in the final set but it was the magnificence of the world number one player which restrained him from closing out the victory. Djokovic shifted his gears, raced through the following two sets and saved two match points to register one of his best-fought victories at 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.
Djokovic’s US Open victory is still fresh in the minds of tennis fans but the way Federer ended his 2011 season campaign, it is expected that the Swiss maestro will hunt down the world number one in Abu Dhabi. Federer is riding a 17-match winning streak since his US Open loss to the Serb and has registered a hat-trick of championship titles to finish off the year in the most assertive manner. The Swiss has received a bye to get a spot in the semi-finals of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, while Djokovic outplayed 16th ranked Gael Monfils on Thursday to book a date with Federer. A three setter with a nail-biting finish is expected on Friday night when these two gladiators go one-on-one against each other in Abu Dhabi.
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