Djokovic wins first title of 2009

AP Photo

Serbian world number three Novak Djokovic finally erased notions about his seemingly sluggish performance this year after winning his 12th career ATP tour title at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday.

The top seed defeated Spaniard David Ferrer in two sets (7-5, 6-3). This served as Djokovic’s first title win this season. The last time he won a title was the 2008 year-end Tennis Masters Cup.

“It’s a very important title. I had not started the year the way I maybe wanted to and the way maybe people were expecting me to. I made some major changes— my racket, which was quite risky at this time,” the Serbian said after the match.

“But as the season is going on I feel more comfortable with the racket and I feel comfortable on the court more. I try to release the pressure that I have and just play the tennis that I played in the first part of 2008, and if I do so I think I will be pretty successful,” he added.

The tournament took place a week after the women’s event which was clouted with controversy after the United Arab Emirates officials decided to deny the visa of Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer. However, the officials granted male tennis pro Andy Ram a visa to compete this week.

World’s top two players Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer withdrew due to injuries while defending champion Andy Roddick opted not to participate in protest of what happened to Peer.

Despite these setbacks, the tournament still saw high quality tennis from participating players.