Dubai Duty Free 2015: Daily Tennis Scores, Results and Draw Schedule

Roger Federer reigned supreme in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, as he made history by romping to an unprecedented seventh tournament win.

Capped off with a straight-sets victory over Novak Djokovic, Federer's performances throughout were nothing short of sensational, rolling back the years with some exemplary tennis.

This win chalks up Federer's 84th career triumph, and the scary thing is, there's no sign of him faltering anytime soon.

Read on for daily recaps of the action in Dubai, where a stunning week of tennis took centre stage.

Daily Schedule

Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press

For a full breakdown of the Dubai Duty Free schedule, visit the official ATP World Tour website.

Day 6 Recap

Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press

Men’s Singles Final:

Roger Federer (2) bt. Novak Djokovic (1): 6-3, 7-5

Men’s Doubles Final:

Rohan Bopanna and Daniel Nestor bt. Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Nenad Zimonjic: 6-4, 6-1

Roger Federer eased to victory in final of the Dubai Duty Free on Saturday, seeing off world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, per BBC Sport:

"

Roger Federer beats Novak Djokovic to win his seventh Dubai title http://t.co/0fJ2kSwVLp pic.twitter.com/56MsLz8HTa

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 28, 2015"

An epic battle was expected between the two giants of tennis, but Federer was on such form that he quite simply blew the Serb away.

His backhand was irresistible all match, putting Djokovic on the back foot in rallies from which he couldn’t recover.

In the first set, the players exchanged massive blows, but it was Djokovic who had the first chance to break in Game 3.

Federer found himself 40-15 down after the Serbian played some exquisite tennis, but somehow managed to recover, before taking the game on the second deuce.

That seemed to knock the stuffing out of Djokovic, who lost his serve in Game 7 before seeing Federer serve out to take the opener 6-3.

What Federer is, and always has been, good at is front-running. Once he gets in the lead, he knows exactly how to close the match out.

That much was proved in the second set.

Federer held his serve throughout, before striking with the score at 5-5 to put himself within a game of the trophy.

Djokovic had two set points in Game 10, but the Swiss star once again recovered miraculously recovered to keep his nose in front.

Federer then served out for the win, picking up his seventh Dubai title in his 126th ATP final.

Following the match, the world No. 2 lauded a great encounter, saying that he struck at the right time—per BBC Sport:

"Playing against Novak is always special. I think we get the best out of each other. I definitely won the big points tonight so I am pleased I came up with some good serves."

That much is undoubtedly true, as he saved all seven break points that went against him on Saturday.

It’s that grit that took him over the line for his 84th career title, impressing footballer Toni Kroos in the process:

"

Congrats @rogerfederer ! number 84 !!! still magic... #ATPDubai

— Toni Kroos (@ToniKroos) February 28, 2015"

Federer wasn’t the only man who eased to victory on Saturday, though, as Rohan Bopanna and Daniel Nestor claimed the men’s doubles title with a straight-sets win against Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Nenad Zimonjic.

Bopanna and Nestor dominated from the offset, breaking in Game 9 of the first set with a love game before simply demolishing Qureshi and Zimonjic in the second.

The champions never looked like they’d falter, and the 2-0 scoreline was nothing more than they deserved.

Day 5 Recap

Francois Nel/Getty Images

Men's Singles, Semi-Finals

Roger Federer (2) beats Borna Coric: 6-2, 6-1 

Novak Djokovic (1) beats Tomas Berdych (4): 6-0, 5-7, 6-4

Men's Doubles, Semi-Finals

Rohan Bopanna and Daniel Nestor (4) beat Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau: 4-6, 7-6(9), 11-9 

Roger Federer reached the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday as he beat 18-year-old Borna Coric in straight sets to advance from the last four.

The Swiss legend is going for an unprecedented seventh title in Dubai and he will meet either Novak Djokovic or Tomas Berdych in the final.

The Croatian Coric had been in impressive form throughout the tournament, making short work of Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.

But Federer proved too much for the youngster, the 17-time Grand Slam winner putting in a near perfect performance to reach his ninth Dubai final in less than an hour.

A single sloppy service game in the opener was the only blot for Federer as he was broken by Coric. But the Swiss master picked up three breaks of his own to take the first set 6-2, and he looked to be finding his groove, particularly with the first serve.

Indeed, he kicked on to win the second set in impressive style, his immense net play a particular highlight which proved too much for Coric.

Coric was able to avoid the bagel in the second set, but only just, and Federer eventually served out the match for a simple 6-2, 6-1 victory.

Novak Djokovic seemed to be cruising to an easy semi-final win over Tomas Berdych, but the Czech kicked into gear in the second set and forced the world No. 1 into a serious battle on Friday. The Joker eventually emerged victorious in three sets, needing over two hours to qualify for the final.

That hardly seemed likely after the first set. Djokovic converted three of six break chances and dominated his opponent from the base line on his way to a bagel, looking as sharp as he has all tournament long.

Berdych's serve completely abandoned him in the first set, but the fourth seed soon found his rhythm. The 29-year-old started stepping into the court more in the return game and putting pressure on Djokovic, who suddenly started to make mistakes.

The Serb managed to erase an early break but couldn't find his range from the base line and struggled on his second serve, winning just 33 percent of points, and after a wacky set with five (!) breaks in total, Berdych pulled level.

Djokovic became more aggressive with his serve in the third set, hitting three aces and taking far more chances to eliminate Berdych's advantage in the return game. The strategy worked, as the Czech only managed one break chance all set and never came close to breaking Djokovic's serve again.

He refused to give up in the rallies and forced another long, gruelling set, but after two hours and five minutes, his resolve finally cracked, setting up a dream final between the two top seeds, Federer and Djokovic.

Federer is looking for his seventh title in Dubai and will head into the final well-rested following his one-sided win over Coric, so the Swiss veteran should be seen as the slight favourite as the duo resumes its rivalry.

Day 4 Recap

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Men's Singles, Quarter-Finals

Borna Coric beats Andy Murray (3): 6-1, 6-3.

Tomas Berdych beats Sergiy Stakhovsky: 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. 

Roger Federer (2) defeats Richard Gasquet: 6-1, retirement.

Novak Djokovic (1) defeats Marsel Ilhan (Q): 6-1, 6-1

Men's Doubles Quarter-Finals

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Nenad Zimonjic beat Jeremy Chardy and Lukas Rosol: 6-1, 6-2.

Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau beat Robert Lindstedt and Marcin Matkowski: 4-6, 7-5, 10-7.

Rohan Bopanna and Daniel Nestor (4) defeat Jamie Murray and John Peers (Q): 6-4, 7-5

Dominic Inglot and Florian Mergea defeat Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (1): 7-6 (6), 2-6, 10-8

Qualifier Marsel Ilhan had a magical run through the 2015 Dubai Duty Free tournament, but his Cinderella story came to an end against an unleashed Novak Djokovic, who thrashed the Turk in two short sets, 6-1, 6-1.

The Serb has been in tremendous form in 2015 and continued right where he left off on Thursday, not giving up a single service game and firing seven aces, with one double fault.

Ilhan was clearly troubled by nerves, often forced into second-serve situations and lengthy rallies from the baseline. The 27-year-old won just two out of 17 points on his second serve, and while he showed plenty of resilience defending his serve, he was clearly outmatched by the World No. 1.

Djokovic has now won 10 straight matches and barely broke a sweat on Thursday, going into his semi-final battle with Tomas Berdych with momentum on his side. Berdych needed three sets to get past Sergiy Stakhovsky, so the Joker will certainly be more rested than his opponent.

Roger Federer needed just 20 minutes to dispatch of Richard Gasquet, who retired from their quarter-final match citing back problems after taking a 6-1 thrashing in the first set.

Federer may have looked out of sorts against Fernando Verdasco on Wednesday, hitting an uncharacteristically high amount of unforced errors, but he bounced back with a magnificent performance against Gasquet.

The 33-year-old didn't surrender a single point on his own serve and was phenomenal when returning, putting tons of pressure on Gasquet, who struggled with depth.

The Frenchman failed to save all but one break chance he handed to his Swiss opponent, and with his play visibly regressing toward the end of the set, his retirement didn't come as a huge shock.

As impressive as this return from Federer was, via TennisTV, it was a clear indication of Gasquet's immobility.

The Swiss star will be in for a serious semi-final battle against teenage sensation Borna Coric, who made a big statement against Andy Murray.

Coric capitalised on the Scot's uncharacteristic inefficiency. World No. 3 Murray hit 27 unforced errors during the opening set, according to the Sky Sports Tennis Twitter feed: 

"

Andy Murray struggling against Borna Coric and loses the first set 6-1. Watch live on SS3: http://t.co/u1ZqO4bfX4 pic.twitter.com/ImhhzSCjR2

— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) February 26, 2015"

He also managed to win a mere four points on his tame second serve, per ProTennisLive.com. That dismal figure owed everything to Murray's inaccuracy on the day, failing to close out a plethora of rallies against his precocious 18-year-old opponent.

If one moment crystallised Murray's woes, it came in the final game. The Scot led 0-30 on the Coric serve with an excellent chance to break. But that opportunity disappeared when Murray missed an easy smash shot.

Coric seized the initiative and promptly ended the match.

While Murray will likely be left reeling from this result for some time, Coric has set up a final-four meeting with the great Federer. That could be the cue for a changing of the guard in men's tennis.

The other quarter-final of Day 4 saw Berdych take a first-set lead over Stakhovksy. However, the Ukranian battled back brilliantly to take the second. But that was as close as Stakhovsky got to the World No. 4. Berdych survived his brief scare to rally and make comfortable work of the final set.

By the end, he'd blasted Stakhovksy off court by booming nine aces and winning 35 points off his first serve. Berdych also broke serve on four different occasions, per ProTennisLive.com.

Day 3 Recap

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Men's Singles, Second Round

Andy Murray (3) beats Joao Sousa: 6-0, 6-2

Roger Federer (2) beats Fernando Verdasco: 6-4, 6-3

Novak Djokovic (1) beats Andrey Golubev: 6-1, 6-2

Marsel Ilhan beats Feliciano Lopez (6): 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Tomas Berdych (4) beats Simone Bolelli: 7-6(7), 5-7, 6-0

Sergiy Stakhovsky beats Denis Istomin: 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Borna Coric beats Marcos Baghdatis (retired hurt): 6-4, 3-6, 6-6

Richard Gasquet beats Roberto Bautista-Agut (7): 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6)

Men's Doubles, First Round

Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (1) beat Roberto Bautista-Agut/Joao Sousa: 6-2, 6-2

Jamie Murray/John Peers beat Raven Klaasen/Leander Paes: 2-6, 6-4, 10-8

Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi/Nenad Zimonjic beat Vasek Pospisil/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (3): 6-2, 6-3   

Andy Murray blitzed Joao Sousa in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free 2015, romping to the quarter-finals with a 6-0, 6-2 win over the Portuguese player on Wednesday.

Murray turned in a display that was bristling with the kind of endeavour you’d expect from one of the world’s top three players.

As noted by Piers Newbery of BBC, it was a very tough day for the Portuguese:

"

Murray beats Sousa 6-0 6-2 in 57mins @DDFTennis, not a lot of fun for Joao. AM plays Coric or Baghdatis in quarters, Federer in his half.

— Piers Newbery (@piersnewbery) February 25, 2015"

While Murray was immaculate, admittedly Sousa did help him out with some rudimentary mistakes. The underdog seemed to let the occasion get to him against an illustrious opponent and as noted by BBC Sport, made 19 unforced errors in a hopelessly lopsided opening set.

As noted by TennisTV, it took Murray just 21 minutes to take the first stanza:

"

21 minutes on the board and Andy #Murray hands #Sousa a bagel. Horrible set for Joao. #DDFTennis #tennis pic.twitter.com/6bdEMbeNza

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) February 25, 2015"

That pattern continued in the second too, as the British No. 1 broke in the very first game. Sousa avoided the embarrassment of a double bagel defeat by taking two games but it was definitely a day to forget for him.

After a poor showing at the Rotterdam Open last time out, the Scot looks back to his formidable best in Dubai and he now faces Borna Coric in the quarter-finals.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was similarly emphatic as he saw off Kazakhstani Andrey Golubev in just over an hour, winning 6-1, 6-2 as he bids for a fifth Dubai title.

It was a stunningly simple victory for the Serb as he broke four times while not offering up a single break point on his own serve, and he next faces Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan, who shocked sixth seed Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday.

Roger Federer, a six-time winner in Dubai, had more of a struggle in his second round match, but he fought back from 4-1 down in the opening set to beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-3.

The Swiss second seed started slowly and was facing an uphill battle as Verdasco powered some impressive winners to take the initiative in the match.

However, the Spaniard could not see out the set as Federer came roaring back in the most impressive fashion to take the opener, per ESPN Tennis:

"

From 1-4 down, Federer storms through the end of set, winning the final 20 points in a row to take it 6-4 over Verdasco. Live now on @ESPN3.

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) February 25, 2015"

He took the momentum into the second set and closed at the match impressively. Federer will now face Richard Gasquet in the next round—the Frenchman having downed Roberto Bautista-Agut—and the Swiss legend is clearly happy with his game, per ATP World Tour:

"

I think it was a good quality match from my side. I think Fernando played well for spells, but I think I was quite consistent. It's not the first time it's ever happened to me, but it's a great comeback because I did feel that Fernando was hitting the ball well and came out and played very committed [and] serving well.

"

The last eight in Dubai is set to be packed with quality as fourth-seed Tomas Berdych also came through a battling encounter with Simone Bolelli on Wednesday.

The pair traded blows in a very tight first two sets, but the Czech eventually blew his opponent away in the decider and proceeds to the next round to face Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Day 2 Recap

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

Men's Singles, First Round

Marsel Ilhan beats Alexander Zverev: 6-1, 7-6(4)

Feliciano Lopez (6) beats James Ward: 6-4, 6-4

Tomas Berdych (4) beats Jeremy Chardy: 7-6(2), 6-4

Simone Bolelli beats Lucas Pouille: 6-3, 6-3

Sergiy Stakhovsky beats Lukas Rosol: 4-6, 6-1, 6-4

Marcos Baghdatis beats David Goffin (8): 6-2, 7-5

Andy Murray (3) beats Gilles Muller: 6-4, 7-5

Novak Djokovic (1) beats Vasek Pospisil: 6-4, 6-4

Fernando Verdasco beats Guillermo Garcia-Lopez: 7-5, 6-1

Borna Coric beats Malek Jaziri: 5-7, 6-3, 6-3

Roberto Bautista-Agut beats Dominic Thiem: 6-3, 6-2

Men's Doubles, First Round

Jeremy Chardy/Lukas Rosol beat Simone Bolelli/Andreas Seppi: 6-0, 6-1

Robert Lindstedt/Marcin Matkowski beat Andrey Golubev/Denis Istomin: 7-6(11), 3-6, 10-8

Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau (2) beat Roger Federer/Michael Lammer: 6-4, 7-6(12) 

Top seed Novak Djokovic made easy work of Vasek Pospisil in his first round match on Tuesday, the Serb winning in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 as he began his bid for a fifth Dubai title.

The world No. 1 was playing his first match since winning his fifth Australian Open title in Melbourne earlier this month, and he breezed past Pospisil in 78 minutes.

The Canadian put in a decent performance, but never truly troubled Djokovic as the 10-time Grand Slam winner claimed three of four break point opportunities offered up to him in Tuesday's proceedings.

Djokovic relinquished his own serve once—Pospisil breaking back to make it 2-2 in the second set—but he was not to be denied, and eventually broke again to win the match and proceed to the second round, where he will face Andrey Golubev.

Andy Murray got his tournament off to the best possible start with a solid win over Gilles Muller. The two-time Grand Slam winner was far too strong for his big-serving opponent, running out a 6-4, 7-5 victor in Dubai.

After a very disappointing loss to Gilles Simon at the Rotterdam Open last time out, Murray will be desperate to get back to his best form here. He showcased some sparkling tennis at the Australian Open, but another poor performance in Dubai would see some of the momentum accrued from those exemplary displays potentially seep away.

But the third seed was on it from the get go against Muller. The man from Luxembourg can be an awkward opponent at times and he too has showcased some encouraging form early in the year, but Murray was able to nullify his serve and get a stranglehold on the first set, eventually taking it 6-4.

The second set saw Murray take charge early too as he broke his opponent in the opening stages to grasp the upper hand. When serving for the match at 5-4, the third seed looked set to wrap up an easy victory, credit must go to Muller however, who fought back to break Murray and make it 5-5.

But the Scot sprung back immediately in the very next game to break Muller and this time he made no mistake on his serve, winning the final game to love and taking the second set 7-5.

Earlier in the day Tomas Berdych booked his place in the second round. The powerful Czech star is seeded fourth in Dubai and wrapped up an assured 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over Jeremy Chardy.

Feliciano Lopez also made it through to the second round after a confident 6-4, 6-4 win over British qualifier Jamie Ward.

Day 1 Recap

Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press

Men's Singles, First Round

Joao Sousa def. James McGee: 6-1, 6-2

Andrey Golubev def. Fabrice Martin: 7-5, 6-4

Denis Istomin def. (5) Ernests Gulbis: 7-5, 6-2

(2) Roger Federer def. Mikhail Youzhny: 6-3, 6-1

Richard Gasquet def. Andreas Seppi: 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4

Men's Doubles, First Round

(4) Rohan Bopanna/Daniel Nestor def. Novak Djokovic/Laslo Djere: 6-2, 7-5

Dominic Inglot/Florin Mergea def. Feliciano Lopez/Fernando Verdasco: 7-6(3), 7-6 (5)

Roger Federer got his Dubai Duty Free title defence up and running on Monday with a routine 6-3, 6-1 victory over Mikhail Youzhny that lasted less than an hour.

Federer will face either Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or Fernando Verdasco in the second round and looks to be soaking up the Arab sun with comfort once again, clearing the first hurdle with ease.

Youzhny got off to an encouraging start after managing to stick level with the Swiss titan after six matches, but it was at this point Federer found his rhythm and proceeded to decimate his Russian opponent.

Earlier in the day, No. 5 seed Ernests Gulbis fell out of the competition at the hands of Denis Istomin and extended his losing streak to five matches.

Gulbis seemed to be in control of the tie after assuming a 4-1 lead in the first set, but capitulated in major fashion to lose 7-5 before Istomin took even more control in the second to earn a straight-sets victory.

Sky Sports quoted Latvian Gulbis as saying after the result: "I'm not in good form right now. I'm not feeling my shots at all. I have no timing. In practice, I have been playing worse than in the match."

Even more embarrassing than that defeat was the demolition of James McGee, who succumbed to Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-2 to see his dream of an upset end before it had barely even begun.

Per the official ATP Tour website, McGee could only win one of his return points in the first set and committed three double faults in the second set to finish second-best to his Portuguese foe in every regard.

There were more fiercely contested wins for Andrey Golubev and Richard Gasquet, though, who defeated Fabrice Martin and Andreas Seppi, respectively, to book their places in the second round of the tournament.

Kazakh Golubev beat his French opponent 7-5, 6-4 despite making six double faults to Martin's one, coping better with the pressure of the clutch points.

Martin failed to save a single one of the four break points he faced, and Golubev was superior at the serve, winning 48 of his 78 attempts and holding a better return ratio, too.

Seppi and Gasquet were the only players to go to three sets on the first day of the competition, and despite the Frenchman's inability to convert two break-point chances in the second set, he recovered to take the third and the match.

After fluffing his lines leading up to the second set's tiebreak decider, Gasquet may have suffered a dip in morale to see the third go astray, too, but he ultimately recovered to set up a second-round fixture against either Dominic Thiem or Roberto Bautista Agut.