Story highlights
Novak Djokovic beats Tomas Berdych in the final of Dubai Open 7-5 6-3
Serb, who won a fourth Australian Open title in January, now unbeaten in 18 matches
Venus Williams loses in semifinal of Brazil Tennis Cup to Russian ranked 109 in the world
Novak Djokovic cruised to a fourth Dubai Open title with a straight sets 7-5 6-3 win over Tomas Berdych at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Saturday.
The world No.1 came back from a break down in the first set against the imposing Czech – who beat Roger Federer in the semifinals on Friday – to eventually prevail in just over 90 minutes and extend his unbeaten run to 18 matches.
Read: Federer: ‘Naive to think tennis is clean’
Djokovic, who won a fourth Australian Open title in January, was last defeated by Sam Querrey at the BNP Paribas Masters on October 31st.
“I felt when I came from break down that I started believing in myself a little bit more. I hung in there and stayed tough. This is the important thing,” Djokovic said, ATPWorldTour.com reported.
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“I have been enjoying my time, always coming here with a big team, with family, friends,” he added.
“Everybody has been welcomed. This generosity of the people and from the organisation is always remembered. So this is definitely one of my favourite tournaments throughout the year. Winning it four times now is something that I definitely enjoy.”
Read: Visualizing greatness: How Novak Djokovic rose to the top
Meanwhile in the Brazil Tennis Cup, top seed Venus Williams was beaten by world 109 Olga Puchkova in the semifinals.
The Russian came from a set down to eventually beat the 32-year-old 4-6 6-4 7-5 to book her place in the final against Romania’s Monica Niculescu.
