Djokovic Wins Fourth Dubai Crown

March 4, 2013 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic clinched his fourth title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic at the Dubai Tennis Stadium in just over 90 minutes. Djokovic extended his winning streak to 18 matches, which also includes last year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and the Australian Open in January. His last loss came to Sam Querrey in the BNP Paribas Masters second round in October.

“My serving today was great, [I had a] very high percentage of first serves, over 200 [kilometers per hour]," said Djokovic. "I really felt that I could rely on my serve. And in tough moments, that part of my game actually helped me to prevail. To be honest, I haven’t played as aggressive and maybe as good as I have played in yesterday’s match [versus Juan Martin del Potro] or previous matches during this week. But that’s also because I had [my] toughest challenge."

Djokovic, who also lifted the Dubai trophy in 2009, 2010 and 2011, earned $429,600 in prize money and 500 Emirates ATP Rankings points. Berdych received $193,700 and 300 points. Berdych has now lost all 12 of his hard-court meetings with Djokovic. He was the first Czech play to reach the Dubai final since Jiri Novak in 2003.

 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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