Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Three-time reigning time titlist Roger Federer and world No. 4 Andy studded $1.7 million Dubai Tennis Championships.
The world No. 1 and reigning Australian Open, U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion Djokovic handled seventh-seeded fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) to improve to 10-0 for the year. The mighty Djokovic held his serve throughout on Day 4, while breaking his friend Tipsarevic, who smacked 10 aces in a losing effort, on two occasions.
Djokovic, playing his first tennis in a month this week, defeated Federer in last year's finale in Dubai, where the two greats have combined to win seven of the last nine titles here.
The high-flying Djokovic's semifinal opponent on Friday will be Murray. The Serb is 7-4 lifetime against the Brit, including a semifinal victory at the Aussie Open in January.
The second-seeded Federer whipped former top-10 Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4, while a third-seeded Murray topped fifth-seeded Czech slugger Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5 on the hardcourts at Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Federer moved on in 69 minutes by breaking Youzhny twice and not allowing a break-point chance against. Murray tallied twice as many breaks (4-2) as Berdych en route to his victory.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion Federer, fresh off his title in Rotterdam two weeks ago, will meet the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga-Juan Martin del Potro victor on Friday. The hot del Potro is fresh off his title in Marseille last week and lost to Federer in the Rotterdam final the week before that.
The 2012 Dubai champ will collect $409,170.
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