Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships

Third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic was stretched by Fabrice Santoro in the ATP Dubai second round before beating the Frenchman 6-3 7-6.Rafael Nadal coasted to a 6-4 6-0 win over Russian qualifier Mikhail Ledovskikh.

Australian Open winner Djokovic was aggressive and looked comfortable against Santoro in the first set, but then lost his way.

Santoro broke and held a point to lead 4-1 before Djokovic broke back with a finely executed crosscourt backhand, and the Serb also had to survive two break points when down 4-3.

Andy Murray admitted an unorthodox yoga technique helped give him the mental strength to clinch victory in three sets over world number one Roger Federer at the Barclays Dubai Championships.

The British number one narrowly lost the first set 8-6 on a tie break but clinically took the first break point in the second set to break Federer's serve in the sixth game.

Murray then broke Federer in the fifth game of the third set before he served out for a 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-4 victory.

Roger Federer was beaten by Andy Murray on Monday but believes the Briton's game has not really changed since they first met on the ATP Tour in 2005.

The world number one first met Murray in the Thailand Open final 2-1/2 years ago when the Briton was ranked 109th.

Although Federer won that contest, Murray has beaten him in their other two encounters.

In the last two seasons, the 20-year-old Murray has claimed five titles but Federer was not very impressed by the world number 11's tactics on Monday.

Andy Murray confirmed his ability to compete against the best players on the planet after his three-set victory over world number one Roger Federer in the first round of the Barclays Dubai Open.

The British number one narrowly lost the first set 8-6 on a tie break but clinically took the first break point in the second set to break Federer's serve in the sixth game.

Murray then broke Federer in the fifth game of the third set before he served out for a 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 6-4 win at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre.

Andy Murray defeated defending champion Roger Federer 6-7 6-3 6-4 at the Dubai Championships to hand the world number one his first opening round defeat in nearly four years.

Rafael Nadal took time out from his preparation for the 2008 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships on Sunday to visit Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest free-standing structure and building, and the flagship project of Dubai based global real estate developer Emaar Properties.

Fabrice Santoro upset last year’s finalist Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4 Monday in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

It was Santoro’s third win in seven matches against the 12th-ranked Russian.

Santoro could next face Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who faces Marin Cilic on Tuesday at the Aviation Club.

Youzhny, who lost to top-ranked Roger Federer in last year’s final, said he was tired from playing a lot this season and didn’t have enough time to train.

Svetlana Kuznetsova will face Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian final at the Dubai Open after the pair won marathon semi-finals.
 
Second-seed Kuznetsova overcame Serbian fourth seed Jelena Jankovic 5-7 6-4 6-3 on Friday, and eighth-seeded Dementieva was also stretched before beating unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 5-7 7-5 6-2. Both matches took almost three hours. Kuznetsova twice took the lead in the opening set before immediately dropping her own serve.