Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic dropped the first set Friday but rebounded and advanced to the finals of the $2.23 million Dubai Tennis Championships.
Get original file (7KB)
Djokovic survived a tight match with third-seeded Gilles Simon for a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory in Friday's semifinals. Djokovic won 114 points in the match while Simon piled up 113.
Djokovic suffered just two broken service games in the match, the first of which
cost him the first set. He ended the match by breaking Simon's serve for the third time in the match, which took nearly three hours in the intense heat in the United Arab Emirates.
Fourth-seeded David Ferrer had an easier time in his semifinal, taking out Richard Gasquet, 6-2, 6-2, in 1 hour, 15 minutes. Ferrer took 57 percent of the points in the match and broke Gasquet's serve four times while holding each of his eight service games.
Saturday will mark Djokovic's 18th career ATP final and he will be going for his 12th tournament title. Ferrer is in his 13th final and is 7-5 in the previous 12. They are 3-3 in matches against each other, but Djokovic is 3-1 in the meetings on hard courts.
The tournament champion will win $383,000 while the runner-up will receive $180,000.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
Post new comment