Djokovic beats Berdych to win fourth Dubai Open

DUBAI (AFP) - Novak Djokovic won his fifth title in six tournaments and extended an unbeaten run to 18 matches as he clinched a fourth Dubai Open title with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Tomas Berdych on Saturday.

The world number one from Serbia underlined his pre-eminence in the world game with an athletically aggressive performance against the world number six from the Czech Republic, who knocked out Roger Federer, the titleholder, in the semi-finals.

Berdych had chances to take control of the first set after making the first break of serve, but missed three chances to consolidate it, and also narrowly failed to convert three crucial break points in the following game.

These moments suggested that the biggest difference between the two men is a mental one, something indicated again near the end when Djokovic coped with a time violation warning from the umpire as he was serving for the match.