World number two Novak Djokovic admitted that Roger Federer deserved their semifinal win at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week due to the latter’s mental strength and aggressive gameplay that contributed to the victory.
Djokovic seemed on course to win the match when he won the first set 6-3 but Federer regained momentum in the next two sets to improve their head to head series record at 17-15. Federer would go on to win the Dubai title, his sixth career title win at this event.
“He deserved to win,” said Djokovic. “He played better in the second part of the match and was more aggressive and played all around the court really well. I dropped the opening game of the third set; it was quite a bad service game for me. I started making a lot of unforced errors in the second part of the second set and just wasn’t managing to move as well. He felt that this is his opportunity, and he used it. That’s why he’s a big champion.
“It’s like any other match against Roger,” he added. “It’s always tense. It always goes down the wire. Even though I was the better player and I felt I was in control for the first hour or so, it appears that it wasn’t enough, because a few points can really decide the winner. That’s what happened. He mentally felt more comfortable, was coming to the net. On the other side, I backed up, and that resulted with the loss.”
Djokovic has yet to win his first title of the season. He lost in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open back in January to eventual champion Stanislas Wawrinka and the Dubai event to eventual winner (Federer).
“I didn’t have many matches this year, and you could see that on the court,” said Djokovic. “I still lack that consistency in my movement in the matches. Look, I lost to Roger. That’s not a bad loss. I know I’m not fully satisfied with my game. I’m going to work on it and try to get better for the next one.
“I haven’t repeated the success I have had in previous years. But look, it’s normal in sport. You can’t always expect to do well in certain tournaments. When you lose against a better player, you shake hands and that’s it. You move on and try to take the best out of it.”
