ATP 500 Dubai - First Round
1 Novak Djokovic d Cedrik-Marcel Stebe - 64 62
2 Roger Federer d Michael Llodra - 60 76(6)
7 of the last 9 titles have been won by these two champs.
Roger took the title in '03-'05. '07. Novak is the 3-time defender.
I'd bet the house that between the two of them they will make it 8 of 10.
In fact, a meeting in the final would be swell.
WTA Dubai - Final
5 Agnieszka Radwanska d Julia Goerges - 75 64
Make room ladies: Welcome to the top 5 girl.
Aga wins her 8th WTA title - and 4th since August.
Post-match: I was pretty close to losing in the first round...
So I'm extremely happy right now.
Tonight I think I was just better in a couple points, to be honest.
In the important moments I was more consistent.
The conditions were a little bit difficult during the match...
But I stayed calm until the end.
That trophy tho... You ain't gonna be able to carry that on the plane.
Photo: Reuters
Dubai: 2 Novak Djokovic d 1 Roger Federer - 63 63
Very impressive win for Novak as he remains undefeated this year.
This marks the first time in his career he's done a 3-peat.
He also becomes the 7th active player to win at least 20 titles.
A lot of tennis headlines have been sounding the Fed & Nadal 'end of era'.
Too soon: Let's hold off and revisit that after Wimbledon, shall we?
***
Acapulco: 1 David Ferrer d 3 Nicolas Almagro - 76(4) 67(2) 62
David makes it 2 in-a-row in Acapulco - he likes that giant pear trohpy!
As he denies Nico a 3rd title in this years Golden Swing thru Latin America.
***
Delray: Juan Martin Del Potro d Janko Tipsarevic - 64 64
Look out guys: Someone's comeback just got a solid shot in the arm.
This is Juan's 1st title since winning the US Open in '09.
He was sidelined for most of 2010 with a career-threatening wrist injury.
Delray Beach represented his 5th tournament this season.
He's rocking a nice 13-4 W/L - which includes Sf's in San Jose & Memphis.
His ranking just spiked to #89 - FOUR weeks ago he was ranked #485.
It was a matter of time - but who knew it would be this fast?
Doha: 2 Vera Zvonareva d 1 Caroline Wozniacki - 64 64
Vera improves her finals record to 11-16 and H2H with Caro to 4-4.
Acapulco: 4 Gisella Dulko d Arantxa Parra Santonja - 63 76(5)
This is Gisella's 4th WTA title - but perhaps she had a bigger week for this:
She & Flavia became co-#1's on the the women's doubles rankings.
Photos: AP/Reuters/Getty Images
Dubai ATP 500 - Final
2 Novak Djokovic d 1 Roger Federer - 63 63
Wow, talk about a dominant performance.
Novak outplayed Roger very nearly from first ball.
His serve and forehand have really notched up a level so far this year.
Novak is remains undefeated on the season: 12-0.
Add in his 2 Davis Cup wins in December and he's on a 14 match streak.
This is Novak's 20th career ATP title, and with the Aussie Open, 2nd of '11.
This also marks the 1st time he has won a tournament 3 times in-a-row.
He has another opportunity for 3 straight later in the year at Beijing.
Novak will next play Davis Cup this week before heading to Indian Wells.
The month of March will find Novak & Roger in a real battle for #2.
Neither played well at Indian Wells or Miami in '10 so... it's on.
As for Roger... I know he has a place in Dubai...
But in what neighborhood? Shanksville?
I jest. I still say Roger producing great results.
This is the 11th straight event Rog has gone to the Sf's or better.
Nobody else on tour can say that. So chins up Fed-natics.
Photos: Reuters/Getty Images
Dubai ATP 500 - Final
1 Roger Federer vs 2 Novak Djokovic - H2H: 13-7
We are living in rich tennis times with quite a few ripe rivalries on the ATP.
And Roger and Novak will renew theirs in the Dubai final.
This will be the 2nd meeting this year, Novak won their Aussie Open Sf.
In fact, Novak has yet to lose a match in '11: 11-0.
Roger in turn has only lost the single match to Novak & is 14-1 on the year.
WOW: Roger has now been to the Sf's or better in his last 11 tournaments.
His last loss before the Sf's was all the way back to the Qf's at Wimbledon.
This is the 6th tournament Roger has been to at least 6 finals.
He is looking for his 5th title in Dubai. Novak is seeking a 3rd straight here.
Novak has only once beaten Roger back-to-back: in '09 at Miami & Rome.
Neither played well in Indian Wells or Miami last year so...
A real heated race for the #2 ranking will crank up in the month of March.
We're ready.
***
Semifinal Results
1 Roger Federer d Richard Gasquet - 62 75
Richard was up 5-3 in the 2nd - total meltdown. Sheesh.
But hey, this result will get him a breath away from the top 20.
Where. Richard. Belongs.
2 Novak Djokovic d 3 Tomas Berdych - 67(5) 62 4-2 ret.
Awe. Just when we were getting a great match - a muscle pulls.
Get well soon Tomas.
Today Roger Federer played his 930th ATP match and with his win over Marcel Granollers (63 64) he tied Ilie Nastase at #8 on the ATP match win list with 755. A win tomorrow in the Qf's over Sergiy Stakhovsky (they've never played) will give him #8 all to himself and place him 6 matches behind Pete Sampras who has 762 match wins.
Let's take a look at the top 8:
1. Jimmy Connors with 1,241
2. Ivan Lendl with 1,071
3. Guillermo Vilas with 923
4. John McEnroe with 875
5. Andre Agassi with 870
6. Stefan Edberg with 806
7. Pete Sampras with 762
8. Nastase & Federer with 755
Roger's average number of match wins the last 4 years is 65. Even if he drops a little this year (which remains to be seen) he could easily overtake the next two players and finish the year at #6 in ATP match wins.
To get this record though may just be unattainable. To catch Jimmy Connors staggering 1,241 match wins Roger would need to average 60 wins for 8 years. Now I know he says he plans to play for, hmmm, ever - Jimmy shouldn't lose too much sleep over this one.
Congrats Rog. Your longevity is much appreciated.
Dubai ATP 500 - First Round
1 Roger Federer d W/C Somdev Devvarman - 63 63
2 Novak Djokovic d Michael Llodra - 63 63
Only 4 matches away from another Fed/Djoker blockbuster.
Tennis is full of great rivalries at the moment - theirs is right at the top.
Well, ok. Second from the top.
Roger will next play Marcel Granollers for the first time
Novak will play Feliciano Lopez - H2H: 2-0/ND.
The title count between Fed/Djoker & their opponents tomorrow: 86-3.
Whoops.
That is all.
Oh yea, he and big bro Novak lost 1st round doubles in Dubai yesterday.
Novak has also been vocal this week about wanting to break in the top 2.
Hey, winning the Australian Open is a good start in attaining that goal.
With any luck we'll see another Novak/Federer final this weekend.
Novak is in Dubai with his girlfriend and younger brother.
He and Marko are playing doubles for the 4th time. They face the top seeds.
Whoops: They have never won a match together.
I bet you a million bucks that dolphin thinks Novak is as aborbs as I do.
Roger Federer sat out the Dubai tournament the last 2 years but the 4-time champion is back and ready to play. And begin a road back to the #1 ranking again - or so goes the goal. He addressed this 'changing of the guard' idea at his press conference...
Look, Novak played well (in Australia), but so did Andy, and so did Rafa I thought, although unfortunately he was injured. I played well too.
It was just one of those times where a lot of guys were playing well. Just because one guy loses he is playing shocking and can't play tennis any more.
That's where it gets a bit annoying in the press conference explaining something that doesn't need any explanation. One guy throws a stupid question and unfortunately you have to answer it.
That's why I said let's see in six months how things are. Maybe they are quite different, maybe they are the same. Don't jump to conclusions after three days of tennis in a season that lasts 11 months.
That's right Roger. You tell 'em.
Dubai WTA - Final
1 Caroline Wozniacki d 16 Svetlana Kuznetsova - 61 63
That was a 75 minute thumper. And boring as all get-out.
Caro's win this week moves her back to #1 for at least a few more weeks.
This is her 1st title of the season and her 13th career WTA trophy.
Caro has now won the last 3 Premier 5 titles: Montreal, Tokyo & Dubai.
She will play as the #1 seed in Doha next week with a 1st round bye.
***
Sveta is now 13-19 in WTA finals - her last title being San Diego in Aug '10.
Right direction tho: Sveta's showing will move her up to about #13 from #23.
She too heads to Doha and will play the #8 seed Shahar Peer - H2H: 4-3/SK.
Photo: Reuters
Dubai WTA - Quarterfinal
1 Caroline Wozniacki d 9 Shahar Peer - 62 64
And just like that Caro returns to #1 after losing it to Kim for a week.
Caro post match: Of course, it's nice to be back to #1. It's a good feeling.
I gave Kim one week. Hopefully, now I will have it for a few more weeks.
Kim replied on Twitter: Congrats :-) ha ha
I was hoping Peer would win this match... For one reason:
I'm just not in the mood to listen to all the 'who's the real #1' crap.
It's boring. And tired.
Last year it was Serena, now it's Kim - both essentially part-time players.
Not hard to wrap your mind around. End of story.
Photo: From the players party the other night.
Dubai WTA - 3rd Round
16 Svetlana Kuznetsova d 3 Francesca Schiavone - 16 60 75
And of course it was a thriller... well, the 3rd set anyhow.
Remember they played that crazy 16-14 3rd set at Aussie Open.
Fran won that one, so I suppose it was Sveta's turn.
Wouldn't it be great it these ladies like 10 more times this year?
Hey, looks like they are both heading to Doha...
Fingers crossed.
***
Photo: Getty Images
Dubai WTA - 2nd Round
1 Caroline Wozniacki d Anna Chakvetadze - 61 3-5 ret.
Anna went to serve for the 2nd set and fainted after a long rally.
She was given a 7 minute medical time-out, played 1 more point & retired.
Tourney officials later said that Anna was suffering from a stomach illness.
Caro: It was a shock. It was scary. To see someone collapse on other side,
it's not a nice sight. I just want to make sure she was OK.
BTW, Caro needs only reach the Sf's to regain the #1 ranking.
Hmmm, I'm not seeing that not happen. Your move Kim.
Ok, There is no denying that I'm in love with Petko.
I have no real reason to post this except that is made me smile.
She's such a nut.
Petko lost to 12th seeded Kaia Kanepi - 63 36 63 - today in Dubai.
Go relax girl. See you in Indian Wells.
2 Novak Djokovic d. 7 Mikhail Youzhny - 75 57 63
This marks the first time Novak has successfully defended a title.
It's his first title on the year and 17th over-all.
Novak had to work hard playing 4 straight 3-setters to hoist the trophy.
He next hosts the US team for Davis Cup next weekend in Serbia.
Then off to the Indian Wells/Miami double with QF & final points to defend.
He's gonna need to rest at some point - don't go burning-out by April.
Novak said of his poor play in the final, "It's a big boost because I believe in myself. Even when I play bad, I know I have the abilities… Today was another good example of how much I believe in myself and how much I fight till the end."
Photos: Reuters
#2 Novak (above) leads #7 Mikhail Youzhny (below) - 75 20
The match is scheduled to resume tomorrow afternoon.
The doubles final was completed with an upset:
Simon Aspelin & Paul Hanley d. 2 Lukas Dlouhy & Leander Paes - 62 63
Dumb rain.
Photos: Reuters
semifinal result >>> final match - h2h:
2 Novak Djokovic (above) d. Marcos Baghdatis - 67(2) 63 64
Defending the hard way- but getting it done.
>>> Djokovic vs Youzhny - h2h 3-3 including one this year for Youzhny
7 Mikhail Youzhny (below) d. Jurgen Melzer - 75 76(4)
Always with that strange salute-y thing.
Photos: Reuters
That banner might actually be a couple years old now.
Once a staple in Dubai (his second home even) Roger has been absent from the tournament in Dubai for a few years now. After winning in '03, '04, '05, '07 and runner-up in '06 - '08 saw him lose 1st round to Andy Murray and illness has forced him to pull out this year and last.
Roger loves this tournament and should be back but maybe roll up that banner and save it for '11 - just in case?
Photo: Reuters
Roger Federer Takes 5th Title at Dubai
ATP 500 Dubai - Final
2 Roger Federer d 3 Andy Murray - 75 64
And that there's title #72 - and already his 2nd on the 2012 season.
This is now the 6th ATP tourny where he has at least 5 titles...
6 titles at Wimby, Year-End Champs & 5 at US Open, Basel, Halle & Dubai.
He can add another this year at Cincinnati where he's sitting pretty with 4.
Roger didn't drop a set this week - in fact he was only broken once all week.
Watch out boys, he's playing well. Maybe even turning back the clock a bit.
He next heads to the Indian Wells/Miami swing - Sf-ist in '11 at both.
He last won either event in '06 but his fine form of late suggests maybe...
Just maybe.
Photo: Reuters
Posted at 11:42 AM in Commentary, Dubai, Mens Tennis, Roger Federer, Scores, The 500's | Permalink | Comments (2)
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