The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has closed up a little on Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at the top of the world rankings by winning the 12th title of his career in the Dubai Open.
The top-seeded, world number three overcame the brilliantly mobile Spaniard David Ferrer by 7-5, 6-3, and in some ways it was a slight surprise that Djokovic won the final with a little to spare.
He had not been in the greatest of form coming into the tournament, nor had he found it easy to deal with the tight schedule between the Marseille and Dubai tournaments, or the hot weather.
But having survived a marathon in 100-degree Fahrenheit temperatures against Gilles Simon of France the day before, he now showed his resilience as well as his ground stroke solidity with a gritty performance.
