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ATP Dubai: Djokovic-Federer Preview and Prediction

By Nate Slaymaker

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ATP Dubai: Djokovic-Federer Preview and Prediction

It’s the match most fans were clamoring for at the ATP Dubai Duty Free Championships. World No.1 Novak Djokovic will face off in the championship against No.2 ranked Roger Federer. With due respect to Stan Wawrinka, Djokovic has had the most amazing year of the young season. Although Federer lost early in Melbourne, he is playing vintage Federer tennis in Dubai, where he has won the title an astounding six times!

How do the players match up this time around and who will take home the trophy? Read on and leave your thoughts in the comments section.

To see how they reached the finals, click here.

Roger Federer (SUI) vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB)

Federer has looked at home at the tournament he has won six times. He had no problem in his semifinal with Borna Coric, the teenager who took out Andy Murray. He gave up only three games. The match took less than an hour. Federer was only on the court twenty minutes in his quarterfinal match because Richard Gasquet retired, citing back pain. Federer will be plenty fresh for the final.

The top ranked duo has alternated wins the last seven times they have played. Federer beat Djokovic in the semifinal in Dubai last year.

“Maybe I was a bit tentative in the beginning, but I was still able to get off to somewhat of a good start, not being broken early, then breaking him right away,” said Federer. “I felt like after five games I knew more or less what to expect, and I realised what had worked until that point and what had not.”

After winning the first set 6-0 and being up a break in the second on Tomas Berdych in the semifinal, the wheels almost fell off on the Djokovic train. The four time Dubai champion started spraying balls, hitting unforced errors off the forehand. His always confident backhand let him down as well. Berdych saw an opening and seized the opportunity, forcing Djokovic to stumble unconvincingly into the third set. The top seed never did really find his game after that point, but as champions do, he broke Berdych and still was able to win the match 6-4 in the third.

“Even after the first set that went as perfectly as possible and when I was break up I knew that the match is not over,” said Djokovic. “I just wanted to stay on that level, but it was hard.

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“I started making some unforced errors, backed up a little bit, less first serves in. Then he stepped in. From that moment on it was an even match, a lot of unforced errors from my side. [I] just wasn’t feeling the ball great in the third but somehow managed to hang in there.”

Tennis fans may be surprised to find that Federer leads the all-time matchup of these two greats, 19-17. Even more telling, the top ranked duo has alternated wins the last seven times they have played. Federer beat Djokovic in the semifinal in Dubai last year.

“When you play Roger, it’s always a great challenge,” said Djokovic. “If you want to win you have to play your best tennis, especially against Roger in the final of any event, but here particularly. Because I feel like this is the kind of a surface and conditions that it suits his game the best.”

Djokovic is right. Dubai is perfectly fit for Roger’s game. Djokovic is looking for his 50th tour title, but is not in peak form. Federer is at the top of his game in a place he owns. Check off lucky number seven in Dubai for the Swiss champion.

Prediction: Federer

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