Federer seals Dubai title

Roger Federer Dubai - Arabstoday   Roger Federer completed a handful of titles in Dubai on the 20th anniversary of the event after the No.2 seed withstood a tough challenge from Andy Murray to down the Scot 7-5, 6-4 in the final at the Aviation Club. Murray was coming off two impressive wins over Tomas Berdych and Novak Djokovic in the quarters and semis, while Federer had not been broken in all 42 service games he contested heading into the final, and the match was tight from the get-go. Although Murray pulled out a 211 km/hr serve in the opening game suggesting his service was again going to be his saviour, Federer pushed the Scot to deuce and the Swiss wasted a chance to get a break point when he netted an easy volley. Murray applied the same pressure in the following game forcing deuce on Federer’s serve, but the match saw no breaks for the first ten games, although the 30-year-old appeared more threatening. The No.3 seed had the first look at break point in the sixth game but some vintage chip-and-charge action from Federer saw him rally from 15-40 down to recover with four points on the trot. The crucial game came at 5-5 when Murray quickly went down 0-40 courtesy of a double-fault, a long backhand and a cheeky dropshot from Federer. The world No.4 however saved all three but Federer eventually got the break on his fifth chance when Murray faltered at the net, and the Swiss barely blinked as he served out the set with ease. Murray’s serving level dropped in the second set and Federer exploited that as early as the third game to break and consolidate for 3-1. But the 24-year-old still had some fight left in him and some exceptional lobs helped him break back to level at 3-3. Federer inched ahead once again breaking Murray for 5-4 and later overcame some deep groundstrokes in the final game to seal the victory in one hour 36 minutes. Federer admitted he didn’t get nervous when Murray broke back. “I guess normally I would be nervous, but tonight for some reason I was calm," he said. “I know what a great return player Andy is, and I knew this was going to be the most difficult match because he is the best return player in the game. “I knew he was probably going to break me, so I kind of - I don’t want to say expected it, but I took it easily and said ‘at least I had the break, at least it’s back even, I just have to make sure I stay ahead of him’; and I did. Maybe Andy didn’t serve his very best tonight, but maybe that comes through my good returning. I anticipated well. Overall I think I played a really good match on my service games all week.” The 16-time Major champion is now 72-30 in finals and has won the last five of seven tournaments on the ATP Tour. Federer insists staying healthy has been the key in his stunning run. “There is no substitute to confidence. I’ve played great. It’s not just that I’ve taken my chances. I really thought I played a good tournament here. I played a great tournament in Rotterdam. The end of last year was exceptional, so it’s nice to also win a tournament outdoors now.” Murray conceded that his level dipped in the second set. He said: “I think second set he played better than me. For sure I made a few too many mistakes in the second, and he was playing a lot more aggressive than in the first set."