Defending champion Novak Djokovic won his third consecutive title at the Dubai championships when he defeated top-seed Roger Federer 6-3, 6-3 in just 71 minutes on Saturday.
It is the 20th title of his career and his second of the year after the Australian Open last month.
The second-seeded Serbian is the only player apart from four-time champion Federer to have won the title three times, following Federer victories in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
Photo: EPA
He has now won 15 straight matches in Dubai and is enjoying a career-best 14-match winning streak dating back to December’s Davis Cup final.
Federer looked the weaker player from the start and Djokovic surrendered just four points on serve in the opening set.
Djokovic was also aggressive from the baseline and he swiftly earned the first break of serve to lead 2-1 when Federer mis-hit a backhand wide.
Djokovic continued to pile on the pressure as Federer struggled to find a rhythm and he held two break-points for a 4-1 lead. -Although Federer held him off in that game, Djokovic broke again for the set when he forced Federer to net a backhand.
Federer broke to lead in the second set, but his revival was short-lived.
A netted smash on break-point allowed Djokovic to level at 3-3 and a backhand error from the Swiss gave him a further break for 5-3 as the Serb swept on toward his latest title.
DELRAY BEACH
AFP, DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA
Juan Martin del Potro’s return from injury continued to gather pace on Saturday as the Argentine booked his place in the final of the US$442,500 ATP Delray Beach Championships.
Del Potro defeated second-seeded American Mardy Fish 6-1, 7-5 to reach his first final since he won the 2009 US Open title.
He played just three tournaments in last year’s season, which was derailed by a right wrist injury.
In the weeks leading up to the Delray Beach tournament, he reached the semi-finals at San Jose and in Memphis
MEXICAN OPEN
REUTERS, MEXICO CITY
World No. 6 David Ferrer successfully defended his Mexican Open title with a three-set victory over fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in the Acapulco final on Saturday.
Top-seed Ferrer, who has never lost to Almagro in six meetings, won 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 to capture his 11th title while ending his compatriot’s 13-match winning streak.
World No. 13 Almagro was chasing a record third successive title on the Latin American claycourt circuit after his victories in the Buenos Aires Open last week.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite