Dubai, United Arab Emirates – World No. 1 and three-time champion Novak Djokovic and five-time titlist Roger Federer eased into the semifinals at the $1.785 Dubai Tennis Championships.
The Australian Open champion Djokovic extended his unbeaten streak to 16 matches with a 65-minute 6-0, 6-3 victory over seventh-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi, while the second-seeded former top-ranked Federer leveled one-time world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko for the 19th time in 21 meetings, 6-2, 6-2, in a mere 54 minutes on the hardcourts at Dubai Tennis Stadium.
The sensational Serb Djokovic, who captured this Dubai event three straight years from 2009-11, will meet fourth-seeded former U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro in Friday's semis. Djokovic is 7-2 lifetime against the tall Argentine, including wins in their last three encounters.
The amazing Federer, the reigning Wimbledon and Dubai champ, is eyeing a trip into an eighth Dubai finale. The Swiss icon beat U.S. Open titlist Andy Murray in last year's marquee championship match in the UAE.
Federer's semifinal opponent will be third-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych, as all four top seeds landed in the final four this week. Berdych was a runner-up in Marseille last week.
In Thursday's other quarterfinals, Berdych blew past Russian wild card Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-2 and the recent Rotterdam titlist del Potro drubbed German qualifier Daniel Brands 6-4, 6-2.
Berdych will meet Federer for a 17th time, with the super Swiss leading their lifetime series, 11-5. The Czech slugger, however, won their last meeting in a U.S. Open quarterfinal back in September.
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