Tennis News

17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer reached yet another historic milestone on Saturday evening in Dubai, when he earned a solid straight sets victory over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to earn his seventh title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. He did so by serving 12 aces, which allowed him to surpass the 9,000 aces in his career mark.

“The seventh is quite unbelievable, what I hear people talking about that, announcing I’m the six-time winner here in Dubai,” said Federer following the match. “Sounds pretty crazy. It’s nice that Wimbledon and Halle are that way, as well.”

The world No. 2 hit 12 aces, and played a traditional serve and volley game to trouble Djokovic en route to the straightforward finish in 84 minutes. He defeated the Serb 6-3, 7-5 to bring his overall tournament record to 47-5 in 12 apperances.

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The 33-year-old has now won two titles this season after picking up a win in Brisbane at the start of the year.

“I think it’s really become a very nice rivalry,” said Federer. “I think we play very nicely against each other, and it seems people like the way we play against each other, as well. I don’t think we have to adjust our games very much against each other, which I think is nice, as well. We can just play our game, and then the better man wins.

“It’s been nice seeing Novak’s improvements over all these years. He’s become such an unbelievable player, especially the past five, six years, and cleaned up his game so nicely and became the best mover in the game. It’s really a pleasure playing against him every single time again.”

Federer also improved to 20-17 against Djokovic in their head-to-head series. He led the series 3-2 in 2014 as well. He was awarded $505,000 for his efforts, as well as 500 ATP ranking points.

After a weak conclusion to his 2014 season, David Ferrer has been dominant so far in 2015, as he managed to win his third ATP World Tour title of the year with a straight sets victory over Kei Nishikori in the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

Ferrer, 32, has now won four titles at this tournament, with the latest one coming against the Japanese No. 1 – a player seven years younger than he is. He struck 11 winners and handled 40 unforced errors from Nishikori to defeat him 6-3, 7-5 in 1 hour and 49 minutes.

“Tonight I played my best match this week,” said Ferrer. “For sure. I played very aggressive, without mistakes. I’m very happy. To win here a fourth time is a dream.

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“I tried to play my forehand to his forehand and with more energy. In important moments, he made more mistakes and I took my chances. I feel very confident with my tennis now. I’ve won three tournaments this year and we’ve only began the season.”

Ferrer, who improved to 18-1 this season with his title win, took home $343,000 in prize money and 500 Ranking points, while Nishikori received $154,620 in prize money along with 300 points. Nishikori, however, is expected to rise to world No. 4 in the ATP rankings, which means he will overtake Nadal for that slot, while Andy Murray moves up to No. 3.

“There were too many unforced errors,” Nishikori said. “I tried to be aggressive but I was missing too much. Especially with this slower surface, he gets everything. I knew I had to step in a little more, but it wasn’t my day.

“I fought hard from 0-3 (in the second set) and tried to come back, but he was too good. It was definitely a great week, I had some tough matches and it’s always a great feeling coming through to a final.”

Czech No. 2 Lucie Safarova earned arguably the biggest win of her career, or at least the biggest title of her career on Saturday afternoon when she worked her way past two-time champion Victoria Azarenka in the tournament final.

Safarova, who held a losing record against Azarenka, snatched an early break against the Belarusian and maintained that lead throughout the remainder of the match, as she pushed from 3-1 up to a straightforward 6-4, 6-3 scoreline. It was a magnificent way to conclude a campaign in Qatar where she defeated fifth seed Ekaterina Makarova, sixth seed Andrea Petkovic and ninth seed Carla Suárez Navarro.

“I’m really excited and happy about this because it took me quite a few years to get to this point,” Safarova said. “I hope it’s not a finish point and I can still improve. My game improved a lot the last couple of years. I think me and my coach, Rob Steckley, have been doing a great job together. It’s just hard work and also maturing a little bit – I think it’s just everything coming together right now.”

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Apart from lifting the biggest title of her career, Safarova will rise from No.15 to a career-high No.11 on the WTA rankings. She achieved this by ending Azarenka’s 14-match win streak after the Aussie Open, and denied her a third consecutive title in Doha. Ranked NO. 48, Azarenka will continue to plummet in the rankings until she regains her old form and starts to win tournaments. This was her first final since the 2014 Brisbane International, and that is certainly worth celebrating.

“It’s been a long week for me. It’s been a while since I had that many matches in a row,” Azarenka said. “Sometimes the body needs to get back into that rhythm. It wasn’t my best today, but I tried my best.

“And there’s been a lot of progress this week. A lot of good things happened, a lot of great matches. There are a lot of things I can take with me and can keep working on – I’m still really motivated. I’m obviously disappointed for losing the final today, but I just have to move on from this quickly.”

World No. 3 Rafael Nadal will conclude his Buenos Aires campaign this week against Juan Monaco, in what will mark the seventh encounter between the two competitors. Nadal leads the head-to-head series 5-1 and has won all of their clay court encounters to date.

The top seed Rafael Nadal was faced with a sterdy challenger on Saturday afternoon on the red clay, as he defeated Carlos Berlocq 7-6(7), 6-2 in the semi-final stage of the Argentina Open presentado por Buenos Aires Ciudad. Nadal is now through to his 93 tour-level final, according to the ATP World Tour.

“I’m happy for Pico, who had long since reached a final,” said Nadal. “It’s a joy to play this decisive match against a friend and for me it is also very important to play my first final of the year here in Buenos Aires, a place where I feel the affection of the people.

“I was serving short in the first set and he (Berlocq) was very aggressive. In the second I was more aggressive and more dynamic with my shots. The tranquility and confidence gave me more energy at the end. I’m happy with the victory.”

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While Nadal’s match was relatively straightforward, his opponent, Juan Monaco, needed two hours and 28 minutes to work his way past Nicolas Almagro in the semi-final round of the tournament. He eventually downed the Spaniard 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 to secure his spot in the final on home soil.

“It was another tough match and I’m very happy for having managed to win,” said Monaco. “I have wanted to play in a final for a long time and it makes it more special that it is here, in Buenos Aires, with all these people supporting me.

This marks the seventh time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Nadal leading the series 5-1. He will look to add to his lead against Monaco on Sunday, in the Argentinean’s own backyard.

Prediction: Rafael Nadal in Straight Sets