2011 Dubai Tennis Championships

DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Dubai, U.A.E.

World No. 3 Novak Djokovic won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for the third year in a row on Saturday as he defeated top seed Roger Federer 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tennis tournament. He became the sixth active player to win 20 tour-level titles (20-13 finals record).

The Serbian also joins four-time former champion Federer as the only players to have won three successive titles in Dubai and improved to a 15-match winning streak at the tournament. He defeated David Ferrer in the 2009 final and Mikhail Youzhny in last year’s championship match.

The 23-year-old Djokovic has been arguably the man to beat on the ATP World Tour in the past two months. Since reaching the semi-finals (l. to Federer) at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, the Belgrade native has gone on a career-best 14-match unbeaten run. He led Serbia to victory in the Davis Cup final in December before opening the 2011 season by winning his second Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open (d. Murray).

“I have this feeling in my head, and it's really important to know for me that I can perform this well, ” said Djokovic. “This match has probably been one of the best that I played this year. I want to keep it up, definitely. I feel physically well, fit, mentally motivated to do even more coming up to Indian Wells and Miami where I haven't done well in the last years.

“Any time I win against Roger it's a great success because he's such a great player. We all know how mentally strong of a player he is. To be able to win against Roger in straight sets as I did tonight is incredible, but I want to keep on going. I know that I have qualities to do even more, and that's what I want.”