DUBAI // It likely took Novak Djokovic longer to get back to his Burj Al Arab hotel room that it did for him to dispatch Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday night.
The world No 1 beat Turkey’s 104th-ranked Ilhan in 49 minutes to book his place in Friday’s Dubai Tennis Championships semi-finals. He will face Tomas Berdych.
Andy Murray, in order to avoid Dubai’s notorious traffic, spurned a week’s stay at the seven-star Burj in favour of the Aviation Club’s on-site hotel, the Jumeirah Creekside.
Djkokovic did not, and the Serb was clearly in a rush to make his way back to his luxurious accommodation.
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Ilhan, who had fought his way though the qualifiers and caused a surprise on Wednesday after beating Feliciano Lopez in the second round, was broken three times in succession. Djokovic, the eight-time grand slam winner, closed out the first set in less than 20 minutes.
Ilhan, 27, called upon his physio to assist him with pain in his lower back, but he was unable to improve in the second set, holding serve just once. The match was over inside 50 minutes.
“Marsel obviously struggled a little bit with his back, but I had never played him before,” Djokovic said. “He had four matches in this tournament coming through the qualifiers, beating some good players, and that obviously earns him respect. I didn’t want to underestimate him.
“It was a good performance. I still feel like I can improve and I can get my game to high level, but so far, so good. [Today] is going to be the most difficult match of the tournament, no question about it, against Tomas. That presents a big challenge, obviously.”
Djokovic has a favourable record against Berdych, yet he is taking nothing for granted.
“If he serves well, he can win against anybody,” the five-time Australian Open winner said. “Very few points will decide the winner.”
Earlier in the evening, Roger Federer secured safe passage to the semi-finals when Richard Gasquet retired, citing a back injury. The world No 2 Swiss had marched to a 6-1, first-set victory when his French opponent withdrew.
“I have had a lot of bad backs in my career,” Federer said. “I know enough about the back, and I know how horrible it is to play with that, and how much worse that it can sometimes become.
“Being down in a match like this, it’s always going to be tough, and it’s maybe better not to take any chances at this point.”
The retirement deprived a packed Aviation Club of its main attraction, but the 20 minutes of tennis that they did see from the 17-time grand slam-winner was ominously impressive.
“Here you need to play the right shots more than the beautiful shots – but the beautiful shots come naturally if you’re playing good tennis,” Federer said.
“I played well, aggressive, and I’m excited to be in the semis.”
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
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Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Company%20Profile
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Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
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- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
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- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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