Novak Djokovic would point to the Davis Cup final against France as the source of his new-found confidence.  Admittedly, Serbia really depended on Victor Troicki to pull in last-minute heroics to take the fifth match.  Even so, Djokovic felt great about bringing Serbia its first Davis Cup.

With this victory, Djokovic also found his serve.  For a long-time, possibly due to an injury, Djokovic struggled with his serve.  He had adjusted his serve and it was awful.  He still continued to win matches, of course, but he was averaging more double-faults than aces, a dubious distinction.

Djokovic had helped Serbia once again at the start of the year in an exhibition, the Hopman Cup, then won the Australian Open where he was able to deflect Federer’s powerful shots with great angles of his own, leaving Federer confused, unsure how to play Djokovic.  Each time he played aggressively, Djokovic would either hit a better shot back, or Federer would shank the ball.  Only occasionally did Federer hit winners.  Federer had been winning matches easily on the strength of his serve, but Djokovic is one of the top returners in the sport, and punished Federer’s second serve mercilessly.

The same script held for the final of Dubai.  Djokovic secured a break both early in the set and late in the set, and held off Federer on his own serve.

Federer started the second set better, with a break early and a 3-1 lead, but Djokovic broke back and then broke again and ran out the set in a little over an hour.  Federer was, like the Australian Open, fighting himself as well as Djokovic making plenty of errors.  Even shots which normally are neutral for Fed or help set him up became ripe for the picking as Djokovic would often swoop on a Fed crosscourt forehand with a more severe forehand of his own.

Final score: 6-3, 6-3.

Questions are likely to continue whether Federer is in decline.  Federer would tell you he’s fine.  He still beats players outside the top ten, which ought to be partly the measure of how he is really doing.

Even so, the kind of problems that plague Federer’s game back in 2008 still plague his game now, namely the shanking that occurs.  It seems no pro since Bjorn Borg would hit balls like that.  To be fair, Borg had one of the most amazing win percentages ever, and many of Borg’s mishits often landed in the court.

Later today, Almagro plays Ferrer and the semifinals of Memphis are played.  In one semi, del Potro plays Fish, and in the other, Nishikori plays Tipsarevic.

This is Djokovic’s third Dubai event in a row, and clearly one of his favorite tournaments to play.