A ruthless Roger Federer confidently dispatched World No 1. Novak Djokovic 6-3 7-5 to take the Dubai Tennis Championships title Saturday in little over one hour and 36 minutes.
The Swiss master, appearing in his 126th tour final (of which he has now won 84) was at his imperious best, frustrating Djokovic who could do little to stem the variety of forehand, backhand and volleyed winners coming from the other side of the net.
“I don’t think I could have played much better,” Federer said on court after the match.
Federer edged ahead in game seven of the first, breaking Djokovic before confidently serving out for the set.
A critical double fault by Djokovic at 5-5 in the second handed his on-form opponent the upper hand. Federer then took the final game on serve to ensure he would win the Dubai title for the seventh time.
The match also saw Federer serve up the 9,000th ace of his career, becoming only the fourth man to achieve the feat since 1991.
“Clearly it is nice to get past that so now I don’t have to think about it ever again for the next 9,000 or so,” he joked
A magnanimous Djokovic later congratulated Federer on his victory.
“Today he was just the better player on the court,” the Serb said. “There was not much I could do.”
“(Federer) didn’t miss much. I think he missed one or two volleys the entire match.
