Novak Djokovic takes on Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday.
Djokovic is undoubtedly the man to beat in world tennis right now after his stunning performance at last month's Australian Open. However the two-time defending champion has looked a little vulnerable at times en route to the semi-finals this week and it will be interesting to see how he fares at the business end of the tournament.
Former finalist Feliciano Lopez caused him a fair few problems in round two with his aggressive serve-volley play and Djokovic found himself trailing 5-3 in his quarter-final with Florian Mayer before hitting a purple patch and reeling off ten of the next eleven games to end the contest.
However he faces his toughest test of the week against Berdych. The two have fought out some big matches over the past twelve months. Berdych enjoyed the biggest win of his career over the Serb in the 2010 Wimbledon semi-finals, his only win over Djokovic to date. The Czech came out intent on dictating play and completely outplayed Djokovic's defensive strategy.
Djokovic admitted he got his tactics badly wrong that day and since then he's beaten Berdych three times in a row - in Davis Cup, at the ATP World Finals and in straight sets in the Aussie Open quarters. However Berdych went off the boil after his Wimbledon success and he's only just beginning to find his form again.
Now the tour is heading back outdoors again, Berdych is far more comfortable and he looked particularly fluent in is straight sets win over Nikolay Davydenko in the second round.
Prediction: Djokovic to edge through in a tight three setter.
