Top-seeded Novak Djokovic survived a scare and an exhausting battle of just under three hours in intense heat before reaching the final of the Dubai Open on Friday.
The former Australian Open champion from Serbia survived 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 against Gilles Simon, the world No. 8 from France, but only after going a break of serve down in the final set.
Neither man played at his best in on-court temperatures of more than 38°C, with Djokovic making uncharacteristic errors in the first half of the match and Simon becoming rather passive in the later stages
PHOTO: AP
Eventually Djokovic came through because his experience in tight situations was greater than his opponent’s, and because Simon was not able to push through to make a double break of serve in the final set.
Asked how he got through it, the favorite said: “It’s hard to explain. Physically and mentally I had to be all the time focused, and just believe that I can win. Fighting was the key today.”
“I was being too aggressive and making a lot of unforced errors and I decided to be more patient,” he said.
PHOTO: AFP
Djokovic’s difficulties began in the sixth game when he opened up the court with a nicely faded forehand drive, only to pull the ball wide with the attempted winner, losing his service game to go 2-4 down.
Simon consolidated the break and closed out the set, and looked likely to pinch the second set too, after surviving break points against him at 2-3.
But he had Djokovic at love-30 at both 3-3 and 4-4, and as the rallies grew longer and both players more tired, his tension increased. Serving to save the set at 5-6 he was lured into driving errors which caused the match to go to a decider.
Simon broke at once and led 2-0 and 3-1 but Djokovic, without ever playing really well, always looked capable of fighting back, which he did by regaining parity at 3-3.
The conclusion again happened with Simon was serving to save it at 5-6. The third seed crucially failed to put the ball away at the net at 30-30 and on match point at 30-40 allowed Djokovic to make the first decent strike, which set up a chance to put a smash triumphantly away.
Djokovic will need all his powers of recovery because in the final he will play an opponent, David Ferrer, who should be far fresher.
The fourth-seeded Spaniard overwhelmed the other Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, 6-2, 6-2 in the other semi-final in the cool of the evening, in only 75 minutes.
“It was a nightmare,” said Gasquet, who had plenty of break points without converting any and whose challenge evaporated from early in the second set.
“I was very focused,” said Ferrer, relieved to have won after losing two previous semi-finals this year from match point up. “Playing Djokovic will be difficult of course but I shall fight a lot.”
■DELRAY BEACH
AP, DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA
Mardy Fish of the US pipped Florent Serra of France 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) to continue his quest to become the first top seed to win the Delray Beach International on Friday.
No top seed has won the tournament in its 16-year history.
Except for exchanging service breaks in the second and third games of the second set, Fish and sixth-seeded Serra held to form to force the outcome to two tiebreakers.
In the semi-finals, Fish will meet another Frenchman, seventh-seeded Jeremy Chardy.
Chardy edged Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3) in the quarter-finals to move a step closer to his second final this month.
He reach his first career final in Johannesburg.
He blew a 5-2 lead in the first set but Baghdatis forced a tiebreaker. At 7-7, Baghdatis double-faulted and smacked a backhand wide to surrender the set.
Baghdatis erred early on in the second-set tiebreaker. He netted a forehand to fall behind 3-2 then netted a backhand to give Chardy his first match point at 6-2.
Baghdatis saved the first match point with an ace but Chardy took control of the second match point on his own serve with a forehand volley that forced Baghdatis into another error.
The other semi-final features unseeded players Christophe Rochus of Belgium and Evgeny Korolev of Russia.
Rochus beat 2000 champion Stefan Koubek of Austria 6-3, 7-6 (7) for the first time in five matches to reach his first semi-finals in three years. He was 5-2 down in the second.
Rochus broke in the second and fourth games to secure the first set, but fell behind 5-2 in the second set before rebounding.
Korolev, a qualifier ranked 105th, downed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-2 in 56 minutes.
■MEXICAN OPEN
AP, ACAPULCO, MEXICO
Top-seeded Venus Williams beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-3 on Friday to reach the Mexican Open final.
Williams, who won her 40th career singles title in Dubai last week, will face defending champion Flavia Pennetta for the title.
Italian Pennetta reached her sixth consecutive final at the Mexican Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over 2004 champion Iveta Benesova.
“Six finals is incredible. I didn’t expect it or hope for it,” Pennetta said. “Every year I come just hoping to play good tennis and produce a little magic for myself.”
The second-seeded Pennetta has surprisingly won three of her five career matches against Williams, including their only match on clay in the third round of last year’s French Open.
Benesova beat Pennetta in the 2004 final but the Italian served better on Friday, and created more chances than Benesova could produce. Pennetta claimed four of eight break points and lost her serve only once to the Czech.
Pennetta, who improved her Acapulco record to 28-4, won the title in 2005 and last year.
“I am more famous here than in Italy, this is like my second home,” she said.
Nicolas Almagro of Spain also will get to defend his title in the men’s final. He defeated unseeded Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 6-4, 6-4. Fourth-seeded Almagro will play second-seeded Gael Monfils of France, who beat Argentine fifth seed Jose Acasuso 6-3, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
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