Home » Back in Dubai, Roger Federers decimates Coric and sets up a matchup with Novak Djokovic

In 2014, Roger Federer defeated Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych to win his sixth Dubai championship. The Swiss won a decisive 6-2, 6-1 victory against Borna Coric in just 56 minutes as he returned to one of his favorite competitions in 2015 and advanced to the ninth final!

After defeating Andre Agassi in a little over an hour in 2005, Federer‘s semi-final victory in Dubai was his most remarkable! An 18-year-old Croat who had only won two games that season and was ranked 84th when he arrived in Dubai did not make it into the main draw in the desert.

The young gun, though, beat Marcos Baghdatis and Malek Jaziri after being a lucky loser who made it into the main draw. In the quarterfinal, Borna defeated Andy Murray 6-1, 6-3, falling five points short of the opening shot and hoped for more against Federer the next day.

Unfortunately, after five rounds, Coric was out of gas and lost his first match against the Swiss in less than an hour. Roger only made one serve error while stealing 63% of the return points, resulting in five breaks from seven chances and a quick ascent to the top.

In Dubai 2015, Roger Federer easily defeated Borna Coric.

The defending champion had 25 unforced errors compared to 20 wins. Despite the ratio’s imperfections, it was more than sufficient to surpass Borna’s dismal three victories and 22 unforced errors.

During a laid-back workday, the Swiss prevailed in both the shorter and longer rallies to maintain their title lead. In the first game of the clash, the kid produced a break opportunity. Federer blocked it with a thunderous serve and followed it up with another to block the second.

To avoid suffering an early defeat, the Swiss ended the game with another unreturned serve. In game two, Coric sprayed a forehand blunder that cost him a break at 15 and allowed Federer to go up 3-0 after an ace a short while later. The Croat held at 15 in game four to score a point and three break chances in the following game.

As Federer netted a forehand, returning to the winning side, Borna only required one to regain the break. He only remained there for a short while, though, as Roger quickly closed the 4-2 advantage after the youthful player’s double fault.

A successful volley put the Swiss in the lead for 5-2, and he quickly finished the set with a break at love for 6-2 after only 26 minutes! Without consistency, Coric netted a backhand in the second set’s opening game, losing serve and going down 3-0 shortly after.

In game four, Coric avoided a bagel against a tenacious opponent by saving a break point and bringing it home. The following one ended with two service winners from Roger for a score of 4-1, moving him closer to the goal. In game six, the reigning champion earned another break by expertly covering the court.

With a confident hold in the following game, Federer secured the deal and set up the title match with Novak Djokovic.