Djokovic, Federer Lead Top Seeds into Dubai Semis

The top four seeds did their part to set up a blockbuster semifinal round at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

By Chris Oddo

(February 28, 2013) -- The top four seeds all convincingly secured semifinal berths in Dubai on Friday, setting the stage for an epic final four at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships tomorrow.

In a tournament that has been dominated by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic over the last ten years, Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro continue to emerge as formidable challengers for the title, which has been won by either Federer or Djokovic in 8 of the last 10 years.

In today’s quarterfinal action, none of the top four seeds had their serve broken, and each moved swiftly into the semifinals with straight set victories.

World No. 1 and top seed Novak Djokovic ruthlessly dispatched Andreas Seppi for the tenth consecutive time with a 6-0, 6-3 thrashing that took just over an hour. Djokovic won all but three points on his first serve, saved the only break point he faced, and converted four of his eight break point opportunities.

"I enjoy playing on hard courts, it's my most successful surface," said Djokovic after the breezy affair.

That much was apparent. The victory is Djokovic's eleventh victory without a loss in 2013, but the six-time Grand Slam champion has a long way to go if he wants to match his season-starting streak of 41 matches in 2011. He'll head into tomorrow's semifinal with Juan Martin del Potro with a 16-match winning streak in tow.

"Delpo is a very talented player, very powerful from both sides," said Djokovic. "It's going to be a tough one and I need to be on top of my game."

Federer looked nearly as invincible as Djokovic in his 6-2, 6-2 victory over familiar foe, Russian Nikolay Davydenko. The Swiss maestro's 19th win in 21 career meetings against Davydenko books him a spot in the semis alongside Tomas Berdych.

Federer only lost five points on serve all evening, and he broke the Russian twice in each set to prevail in 54 minutes.

But the 17-time Grand Slam champion knows he'll be in for a challenge against Berdych, a player that has defeated him five times, including the pair's last meeting at the US Open last year.

"I've lost against him a few times," said Federer. "He's always played me tough... He's been playing much more consistent over the last few years now, and really has established himself..."

Berdych, who is fresh off a runner-up performance in Marseille last week, defeated Dmitry Tursunov for the second straight week, 6-3, 6-2. The World No. 6 improves his record to 13-3 with the victory. He struck 9 aces and did not face a break point in gaining his seventh victory in eight career matches over the 30-year-old Russian wildcard.

In the first quarterfinal of the day, Juan Martin del Potro defeated hard-serving German qualifier Daniel Brands, 6-4, 6-2.

The fourth-seeded Argentine converted on all three of his break point opportunities to earn his semifinal spot, and will face Novak Djokovic for the tenth time in tomorrow's semifinal. Del Potro has lost all three of his matches against the World No. 1 since defeating him for the Bronze medal in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

(Photo Credit: Marwan Naamani/Getty Images)