Djokovic beats Federer to win Dubai Open

The world number three was always more consistent than his Swiss opponent, whose mistake-strewn play never quite shone as brightly as his luminous yellow shirt amid numerous unforced errors.

For Djokovic, this treble-winning display was a remarkable turnaround from his semi-final showing against Czech Tomas Berdych on Friday afternoon, which he labelled a “catastrophe,” “terrible” and his “worst performance of the year.”

He supposedly felt like “a baby” then as he fended off balls that felt like “potatoes”, but – within a little over 24 hours – the 23-year-old had swiftly transformed into an all-conquering master, dismissing the 16-time Grand Slam champion in a clinical and ruthless manner.

Serbia’s Davis Cup hero broke his opponent in the third game of the first set, when some stray shots off Federer’s racquet from both wings brought up 30-40 and a Djokovic return saw the Swiss miscue a backhand horribly.

Five service games were then successfully held until in the ninth game on Federer’s serve, Djokovic profited from another brittle backhand to move 15-40 ahead for two set points.

The first was saved courtesy of a clean Federer forehand winner, but the second went the way of Djokovic with a low, cross-court backhand heralding a Federer volley into the net and a 6-3 scoreline.

The onset of the second set followed a similar pattern to the opening one, only it was Federer who was to benefit from a break in the third game this time as a Djokovic backhand sailed long beyond the baseline.

However, from 3-1 ahead, Federer’s game uncharacteristically imploded and Djokovic reeled off five games in succession, reclaiming his crown after a Federer forehand drifted haplessly wide of the left-sided tramline.

“I guess I raised my game up to the occasion,” Djokovic explained. “I was aware of the challenge that was expecting me on the court and the fact that I needed to be on top of my game in order to beat Roger.

“The focus was there in different conditions than on Friday. I was just a different player; I was serving really well – especially in the first set – and holding my serve confidently throughout the whole match, except for that one game when I got broken. It was just the perfect performance overall.

“Any time I win against Roger, it’s a great success because he’s such a great player. He’s been the number one for so many years and won so many titles, so it’s a huge challenge any time you play him, particularly in the latter stages of a tournament.

“We all know how mentally strong he is as a player and to be able to win against Roger in straight sets as I did is incredible.”

Sergiy Stakhovsky, of the Ukraine, and Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny won the men’s doubles title earlier in the evening.

alex@khaleejtimes.com