A century for Federer with Dubai title

The final in Dubai:

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships - an ATP 500 category tournament, on Hard Decoturf, in Dubai, UAE, 25 February - 2 March 2019

Defending champion:

Roberto Bautista Agut (3) who defeated Lucas Pouille (2) 6-3 6-4

• Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) v Roger Federer (2)

Federer was attempting to win title number 100, and in the process avenge the loss to Tsitsipas in the fourth round at the Australian Open earlier this year.

In that match, the young Greek talent attacked constantly, and shocked Federer with his insistent charge to the net, a tactic that worked for him.

Circumstances in Dubai were different - Roger was better prepared for Stefanos and it showed immediately.  The Swiss forehand performed dutifully and enabled Federer to hold two break points in the opening game.  The Tsitsipas forehand behaved with less discipline, wandering wide and handing Federer the start he desired, and one the fifth seed could ill afford.

Federer proceeded to protect his service with a typical approach, reliable forehand setting up many points, and moving to the net when the time was appropriate.  Tsitsipas was also strong on serve but he had already done the damage.

Surprisingly, Federer, when serving for the set at 5-4, faced two break back points.  He calmly dismissed these, one with the assistance of a missed Greek backhand, the second with a put away at the net.

The first set was safely tucked away in a Swiss bank account 6-4

Set two was solid on serve for both players, especially Federer, who was winning over 80% of points on his first attempt and all the points when he missed with his initial try.

The crunch came in game nine, where Tsitsipas found the net on the only break point created in the set.

Federer didn’t lose another point and he created more history.

Roger Federer defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-4, to take the Dubai trophy for an eighth time and win his 100th title on tour.  He joined Jimmy Connors as the only male player to achieve this milestone.

Tsitsipas moves to #10 in the rankings, a career high.