Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych returned to the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships for the second straight year after he defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 7-5 in the semifinals. Berdych lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s final. It would have been a repeat of last year’s final had Djokovic won the other semifinal but it was not the case after five-time champion Roger Federer defeated the Serbian superstar in a three-set thriller 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Federer has an 11-6 head to head series lead over Berdych. Their last meeting was at this event a year ago where Berdych eliminated the Swiss star in the semifinals.
“It was definitely not me [at the start of the match], and it was a really horrible start to the game,” said Berdych. “But I managed to refocus and stay there, stay calm, and wait for my chance, which I got in the end. I was ready for it, so I took the first set.
“Philipp was serving really well [in the second set], very solid and didn’t give me many chances at all on his serve. Then I got my one chance in the last game and I took it.”
Berdych is fresh from winning an ATP 500 title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournaments two weeks ago. The Dubai event is also an ATP 500 tournament.
