Defending champion Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will face off for the 21st time when the met in the final of Dubai. Djokovic advanced when Tomas Berdych retired with a thigh injury with the Serbian leading 6-7, 6-2, 4-2, while Federer bested Richard Gasquet 6-2 7-5.
Federer holds a 13-7 record against Djokovic, beating him four out of the last six times, but the Serbian won their last two Grand Slam matches at the US Open and the Australian Open. "We know each other really well. We know each other's game," Djokovic said. Mostly in the past three, four years we had matches in semis or finals. It's always high stakes and a big challenge. That's what it's all about. If you want to be the best, you have to win against the best."
Federer added, "This is not similar, because we actually didn't play the finals against each other in Australia. He's been playing well. He hasn't lost a match yet this season. Maybe a bit of an up and down performance here this last week [from Djokovic], [but] again his class showed. He made it to another final. He's obviously looking to get the hat trick here; I hope to stop him and get my fifth. I'm excited about the match. I'm sure we're going to see great rallies." - Matthew Cronin