Roger Federer aims for his sixth Dubai final against Richard Gasquet on Friday.
Federer has eased through the rounds so far and you get the impression the tournament only properly starts for him now. Federer has been able to find his game against a succession of lowly ranked players, confident that he will never really be challenged and he was guilty of being a little careless at times against Sergiy Stakhovsky in the quarter-finals before stepping up his game to win 6-3, 6-4.
“I try not to waste any energy,” Federer said. “Most important thing is to come through. Doesn't matter if it's three times 7-6 in a row to get to the semi. At the end of the day, you want to give yourself chances to win the trophy, and that's what I'm doing. I think I didn't have any let's say completely easy matches here. I've always had to be very focused."
Most of the results this week have been fairly predictable but one big positive has been the performance of Richard Gasquet. The tennis world thrives on variety and in a sport filled with one-dimensional baseline sluggers, the combination of flair, power and touch Gasquet brings to the table is refreshing to watch.
Federer-Gasquet matches are ones for the tennis purists, two players with exquisite talent who just make the game look so gloriously easy. Gasquet made his name back in 2005 when he stunned the Swiss in the Monte Carlo quarter-finals but having promised much, he has never really fulfilled his talent apart from one run to the Wimbledon semi-finals back in 2007.
Gasquet offered an interesting opinion on how one goes about facing Federer. “I know I have to play my game, not to try to play too good,” he said. “When I played him in Bercy last year, I wanted to play very good, to play all the lines, and I made a lot of mistakes. So I just have to try to play my game."
Prediction: Federer in two
