Roger Federer defeats Novak Djokovic to win seventh Dubai Tennis Championships title

It was an emphatic start. A big serve followed up by a typically assertive put away by the charging, or rather gliding, Swiss maestro.

That opening point clearly showed Roger Federer’s intent on Saturday night. An hour and 24 minutes later, the 33-year-old Swiss great clinched the battle of the world’s top two with an identical point.

The 6-3, 7-5 win over world No 1 and reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic extended Federer’s conquest of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to seven and the Swiss later remembered his visit here in 2002 when, as the No 6 seed, he was drubbed 6-3, 6-1 by Rainer Schuttler in the second round.

“I had a rough first visit here to Dubai where I was accused for not putting in my best effort, I remember, and I came back the following year and won it and went on a roll,” Federer said.

“I really felt like I had something to prove after that, and I guess that’s what got me to my winning ways here in Dubai. And then ever since then I fell in love with the tournament and the crowd and the city here.

“The seventh is quite unbelievable, what I hear people talking about that, announcing I’m the seven or six time winner here in Dubai. Sounds pretty crazy.”

There are only two other events Federer has won seven times in his glorious career – Wimbledon and Halle.

So Dubai has some august company on that list and perhaps the Aviation Club could be rechristened as The Sevens to celebrate this moment.

That would be the perfect way to remember this great champion and the sublime tennis he plays.

At his prime, anytime Federer took to the courts, he took the fans along to the peaks of Mount Olympus.

Those days are not as regular anymore, but fortunately for his fans in Dubai, he hit the high notes against a man destined to take over his mantle as one of the most dominant players the sport has seen.

Perhaps, the fans had sensed it. They were queuing up at the gates since early afternoon.

And not many of them must have returned home disappointed, not even the diehard Djokovic fans. They kept cheering for the Serbian maestro, but Federer was on a different plane on the night.

“I didn’t play too bad,” Djokovic said. “I thought he just was too good on the points where maybe I had a chance, break points. He served well. He aced. Then, you know, maybe a volley that hit the line. Bit of a lucky shot. That’s what happens in a sport like this.

“He didn’t miss much. I think he missed one or two volleys the entire match. He’s gonna speak obviously about how he feels he played, but I thought he played a terrific game. I congratulate him for a performance. He deserved it.”

Coming into the final, Djokovic, a four-time Dubai champion, was probably the favourite after his Australian Open win. Though Federer was ahead in the head-to-head (19-17), the Serb had won six of the 10 finals they had faced-off in.

Additionally, the world No1 had not lost any of his four finals in Dubai.

However, he was finished second-best by some distance. Djokovic, as he claims, did play well to create seven break points, but the Swiss saved them all, often with huge serves.

Federer hit 12 aces on the night (Djokovic had one) to join a select band with 9,000 aces on the ATP World Tour since 1991 – Goran Ivanisevic (10,183), Ivo Karlovic (9,375) and Andy Roddick (9,074).

“Maybe just a couple out of seven [break points] I have had some chance to really play the point second serve or something like that,” Djokovic said. “Everything else was an ace or service winner.

“Today [Federer’s serving] was exceptional. I thought at least I’m going to get one good look at the rally or something like that, but he did a very good job.”

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