Roger Federer - Novak Djokovic

ATP. Dubai. (Hard).

Roger Federer - Novak Djokovic

Начало игры: 2011-02-26 18:00
Прогноз: Novak Djokovic (Handicap +2.5) Коэффициент: 1.85

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will be doing battle for the 21st time in their careers when they meet in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday evening. Federer leads the head-to-head series 13-7, including 11-6 on hard courts. He lost to Djokovic in a five-set thriller during semifinal action at the 2010 U.S. Open, but Federer bounced back for three straight wins in the fall. Djokovic, though, won their most recent encounter 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-4 in the Australian Open semis. Combined, Federer and Djokovic have lost only one match this season--none to any other opponent. The Swiss won the Doha title before his semifinal showing in Melbourne. The Serb had not played since his Aussie Open triumph before his appearance in Dubai. So far this week Federer has taken out Somdev Devvarman, Marcel Granollers, Sergiy Stakhovsky, and Richard Gasquet without losing a set. Djokovic has dismissed Michael Llodra, Feliciano Lopez, Florian Mayer, and Tomas Berdych, dropping sets to Lopez and Berdych. "He's obviously looking to get the hat-trick here," Federer said of Djokovic, Dubai's two-time defending champion. The world No. 2 has won this tournament four times."I hope to stop him and get my fifth. I'm excited about the match. I'm sure we're going to see great rallies.” "Mostly in the past three, four years we had matches in semis or finals," Djokovic noted. "It's always high stakes and a big challenge. That's what it's all about. If you want to be the best, you have to win against the best." Djokovic got lucky on Friday when he played poorly but benefited from a Berdych quadriceps injury. With Federer having rolled into the final, look for the top seed to triumph in two competitive sets.