Djokovic Kneels After Winning Dubai Again (AP).
Novak Djokovic defended his title at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships by finally defeating the always tough Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 5-7, 6-3. The match was always on Djokovic’s racquet, but his struggles with serve and a rain delay that stopped play last night with Djokovic up 7-5, 2-0 allowed the Russian a fighting chance.
Djokovic showed shades of his old self, both good and bad. While he was often fired-up and animated on court, he also showed signs of his breathing problem when he would take huge gulps of air after long points. If that’s stress related or a serious physical problem is still an unknown.
After going up 4-3 in the second set, Djokovic set up a potential winning crosscourt forehand to break Youzhny but Djokovic ended up missing it well wide. That miss would haunt the Serb as it allowed Youzhny to hold serve and then break back for 5-4. But then Djokovic broke back at 5-5 but dropped serve at love. The Russian kept the streak going by serving it out to love.
The third set saw Djokovic find his game and his serve allowing him to jump out to a 3-0 lead. But just as he did in the second set, Youzhny broke back for 3-2. Things got tight again with Djokovic somehow holding serve to go up 4-3. He found two more break points when Youzhny started floating shots long and converted one when the Russian floated a forehand long. Djokovic finally served out the over three hour match.
Venus Wears the Winner's Sombrero Again (AP).
Venus Williams repeated as champion of the Acapulco event with a three-set win over unheralded Polish player Polona Hercog 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Despite having to battle throughout the event, Williams found a way to win again on a surface that is not her best. She summed up her win on her recent WTA blog post.
“I’ve had some good wins here. I don’t know why I play so well here. Last year and this year… even when I’m not playing my best, I’ve found a way to win the match. I’m going to have to channel this determination at the French! Crazy… I guess I’ll have to make this a regular stop.”
David Ferrer snapped fellow Spaniard and good friend Juan Carlos Ferrero’s two title win streak when Ferrer won the Acapulco event 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Despite the loss, Ferrero is showing good form on the clay and could be a darkhorse contender for the upcoming clay court swing.
Next week, I’ll be offering a preview of Indian Wells and why I think some familiar faces in the men’s top 10 won’t be there much longer.
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