Top Four Seeds Advance to Dubai Semis

February 28, 2013 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

For the first time in the history of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the top four seeds have reached the semifinals of the event as top-seeded Novak Djokovic will meet the fourth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, and Roger Federer will meet Tomas Berdych.

Djokovic defeated the seventh seed, Andreas Seppi, winning the first seven games in 28 minutes. Djokovic, who ran out a 6-0, 6-3 victor in 64 minutes, is now on a 16-match winning streak dating back to early November. It was also his 10th straight win over Seppi.

Del Potro defeated world number 97th-ranked Daniel Brands, 6-4, 6-2 in 62 minutes. Del Potro broke Brands to love at 5-4 to clinch the 35-minute opener and at one point won five straight games. He won 81 percent of his first service points to record his 11th match win of the season. “I played really well in the second set and I took my chance to break his serve at the end of the first set,” said del Potro. “He made a few mistakes with his forehand and it was a really fast game when he was serving. I tried to be focused on my service game.”

Federer was a winner over Nikolay Davydenko, 6-2, 6-2 in 54 minutes, to conclude play on day four. Federer is now 37-4 at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament. Berdych proved to be too strong for Russian wild card Dmitry Tursunov in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 63 minutes. It was their eighth meeting (Berdych leads the head-to-head 7-1).

“I was just trying to just get better and better with my rhythm on court,” said Berdych. They met last week in the Open 13 semifinals at Marseille, with Berdych winning 6-2, 6-1. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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