‘It’s been a long rivalry’ says weary Djokovic ahead of Doha final with Nadal

Federer overcame a lingering sickness to hold off Grigor Dimitrov and take his title defence into the semi-finals at the Brisbane International.

Novak Djokovic had to work hard against Tomas Berdych for his passage to the final in Doha. EPA

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will meet for the 47th time and play their 24th final against each other after both won their Qatar Open semi-finals.

World No 1 Djokovic progressed through to Saturday’s final after overcoming Tomas Berdych in a bruising encounter, 6-3, 7-6.

Earlier, Nadal also won in two sets but in a more straightforward fashion, beating Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko 6-3, 6-4 in little over an hour. “I guess it’s a pretty important match tomorrow, let’s see what happens,” said Djokovic.

“It’s been a long rivalry, but it’s an exciting challenge for both of us.”

Saturday’s final will reignite one of the greatest rivalries of modern tennis. Of the 23 finals they have contested so far, Djokovic has a slight advantage winning 13. They have faced each other in the final of all four grand slams.

Saturday’s final will also be the 99th of Nadal’s career. Head-to-head in all matches, the pair have each won 23.

Djokovic was made to work for his victory by third-seeded Berdych and a lesser player may have succumbed to the Czech.

The Serb, who had beaten Berdych in 21 of their previous 23 encounters, lost his very first serve and then faced another break point to go 1-4 down.

However, he held his serve and then won the next four games in typical fashion to take the first set.

Any notion that Berdych might then roll over in the second set soon faded as the pair held serve throughout, treating fans to high-quality tennis throughout.

Djokovic though was relentless in the tie-break, breaking Berdych’s first serve and ended up winning the decider 7/3.

It means Djokovic is still to drop a set all week in four matches.

FEDERER FIGHTS OFF FLU AND DIMITROV IN BRISBANE

BRISBANE, Australia // Roger Federer overcame a lingering sickness to hold off Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 on Friday and take his title defence into the semi-finals at the Brisbane International.

His serve in the first set was almost flawless, dropping just two points, and he appeared to be on course with break-point chances for another straight-set victory over the young Bulgarian – sometimes likened to him because of their similar styles – before Dimitrov rallied.

After wasting a chance to serve out the second set in a nervous 10th game, Dimitrov dominated the tiebreaker and forced a decider.

Federer, after showing signs of fatigue in the second, took a quick break before the third, and then went on a roll to set up three match points in the ninth game. Again Dimitrov rallied, winning five consecutive points and forcing Federer to serve it out – which the 17-time major winner duly did.

“I’m not going to tell you too much, but it was tough in a way,” Federer said of his illness, knowing the Australian Open starts Jan. 18. “Body is not quite ready, so it’s good to get through it without any issues.”

By holding off Dimitrov, who is 10 years his junior, Federer set up a meeting with 22-year-old Dominic Thiem, the youngest player in the top 20.

Thiem beat third-seeded Marin Cilic 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 and later said he was hoping to play Federer. “It’s for every young player an amazing experience to play with the probably greatest of all time,” Thiem said. “You can learn so many things from him.”

The other semi-final match will feature 2015 finalist Milos Raonic against Bernard Tomic.

Tomic ended 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori’s streak of three straight semifinal appearances at the Brisbane International with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win, his first over a top 10 player on home soil.

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