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Djokovic Claims 4th Dubai Title over Berdych
By Chris Oddo
(March 2, 2013) --
Novak Djokovic
is starting to look invincible again.
What else is new?
The 25-year-old World No. 1 put forth a nearly flawless defensive display to defeat
Tomas Berdych
in the finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 7-5, 6-3, for his fourth career triumph at the event.
The victory also marks Djokovic's continued dominance over the World No. 6. He's now defeated Berdych in all 12 hard court tussles they've contested, and owns a 13-1 career edge against him.
Additionally Djokovic, who called for the upgrade of the tournament from a 500-point event to 1,000 points after the match, now owns a 28-3 lifetime record in Dubai.
"I really hope that this tournament can be upgraded and become at least a thousand event in the future," he said.
Enjoying his 70th week at No. 1, Djokovic was put to task by the third seed in the early going, as Berdych broke serve first in the fifth game with a gorgeous cross court forehand that eluded the outstretched racquet of the Serb.
But after some energized, hard-hitting rallies, Djokovic leveled the match when Berdych netted a volley into the open court. On the surface, the shot may have seemed like a gift from Berdych, but it was Djokovic's world-class defense that forced the Czech to try and hit each shot to perfection.
It was a theme that would recur all afternoon.
Time and time again, Berdych's best offerings were routinely returned by Djokovic on this day, and eventually that constant pressure wore Berdych down. After Djokovic fought off three break points in a gritty ninth game that saw the six-time Grand Slam champion hit the deck while trying to handle yet another scorched Berdych groundstroke, the momentum had shifted in the Serb's favor.
Berdych would double-fault on set point three games later while serving to force a tiebreaker, allowing Djokovic to claim the first set in 51 minutes.
In the second set, after the players stayed square through seven games, Djokovic's defensive abilities once again came to the fore. At the conclusion of a long rally that featured many stick saves from the World No. 1, Berdych missed an overhead that he elected to play on a bounce from the baseline.
It was probably the right call from Berdych, who would have had more trouble taking the ball out of the air, but once again his decision to try and make a perfect shot would lead to his undoing.
His sliced overhead missed the far sideline by a few inches, and Djokovic's uncanny ability to be everywhere on the court all at once had paid him dividends yet again.
Berdych would keep up the pressure, even earning a break point while Djokovic served for the match at 5-3, but the Serb, who has now won 18 consecutive matches dating back to last year's World Tour Finals in London, rallied to finish the match in one hour and thirty-four minutes.
Even though his bid to become the first Czech winner in Dubai in twenty years failed, Berdych, who
saved three match points in the semifinals against Roger Federer
to reach his first career final in Dubai, became the first Czech to reach the final in Dubai in ten years.
"I probably took all my luck yesterday. I didn't have enough today," said Berdych. "But really Novak was too good today and he deserved the win."
(Photo Credit: AP)
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