On February 26, 2011, top seeds Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer met in the Dubai final, with the Serbian scoring a 6-3, 6-3 win in one hour and 12 minutes for the eighth win over the Swiss in 21 games.
Novak became the second player to win three consecutive titles in Dubai after Roger, going two out of two in what would become one of the best seasons of the Open era after conquering the Australian Open.
Federer had shown more before the final, losing serve twice in four matches to advance to Dubai’s sixth title match, visiting one of his favorite events for the first time since a first-round loss to Andy Murray in 2008.
Novak lost a set to Feliciano López and Tomas Berdych, doing enough to get past those hurdles and set up the highly anticipated final clash against Roger. The Serbian defeated the Swiss for the second time that year after the Australian Open semi-final.
In the most critical encounter of the tournament, Novak left Roger far behind, losing 13 points behind the opening shot and missing serve once from just two chances offered to Federer.
The Swiss was far from those numbers, giving up nearly half his points on serve and playing against ten break opportunities, suffering four breaks to end up on the losing end. Federer had more winners and almost 30 unforced errors, unable to break Novak’s defense and spraying many forced errors after Djokovic distributed him perfectly around the court.
In 2011, Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in straight sets in the final in Dubai.
The Serbian had the advantage in the shorter points, taming Roger’s opening shot and groundstroke while dominating in medium and long range rallies to emerge as a deserved champion.
Federer held out at 15 with a forehand winner in the opening game. Still, Novak was ready for every challenge, landing an ace in the second game to level the score and put his name on the scoreboard before breaking Roger a few minutes later after a loose backhand from the Swiss.
A great serve sent Djokovic 3-1 up, and the right-to-right rally of the fifth game gave him another break opportunity, wasting it after a rare forehand error before Federer saved the second break point with a winner of right to stay within a break deficit.
Three serve winners pushed Djokovic 4-2 to the front before delivering another excellent grip in game eight and completing a perfect set with a break for 6-3 after 34 minutes. The Serb started the second set with a grip at 15 before finally running into trouble in the third game when his backhand found the net, saving the first break opportunity but falling in the second after an unforced backhand error.
The Swiss stayed at 15 with a winning serve to confirm the lead and open a 3-1 gap, but his hot streak didn’t last long, missing a smash in the sixth game to bring Novak back to 3-3 and send boost.
next to the Serbian. A service winner secured the next game for Djokovic, who approached the goal line when Roger made a backhand error in game eight, forging a 5-3 lead and putting a hand on the trophy.
Novak closed the title with a hold at 15 in the ninth game, moving over when Roger’s forehand landed long to secure Dubai’s third consecutive crown.
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