Novak Djokovic defeated Gilles Simon of France 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 on Friday (February 27) and has advanced to the finals at the Dubai Championships.

This is the third ranked Djokovic first final of the season. He will play David Ferrer of Spain, who defeated Richard Gasquet of France 6-2, 6-2.

Djokovic didn’t start the match off real well and was broken in the first set, but came back for a victory.

“I feel a bit lucky, but I think you have to work for luck,” Djokovic said. “It doesn’t just fall through the sky. I think I fought my way through in the match, really believed until the end, and mentally, this is a very important win for me.”

Ferrer looked very good in his match against Gasquet and was consistent and focused.

“This was the best match of the season for me,” the 26-year-old Spaniard said. “I was very consistent and very focused. But even though the score reads 6-2, 6-2, it was a tough match and I think I was a bit lucky as well, because I saved a few break points during the match.”

Who do you think will take away the Dubai Championship title? More photos from the Djokovic/Simon match below.

Source: Tennis.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Djokovic and Ferrer Will Play in Dubai Final

French tennis player Richard Gasquet has hired a new coach with hopes of revitalizing his 2009 career and return to the world’s top 10 rankings.

It was just last February that Gasquet was ranked number 7 and then because of a knee injury and several losses, he dropped to number 25. He has hired Guillaume Peyre as his coach, who helped Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis to the Australian Open final in 2006.

Today Gasquet said, “I was four years with my last coach and it was maybe too long. I needed a change. I’m trying to be aggressive on the court and I’ve worked on it in the (northern) winter and I’ll try to play well in this tournament.”

Gasquet is confident that he will do well at the Australian Open, which starts January 19th in Melbourne. At the moment, he is getting himself ready for the Australian Open by playing in the Brisbane International this weekend and also Sydney. Richard Gasquet says these two tournaments are the best way to get ready.

It’ll be interesting to see how he does!

Source: Google News

Image Credit: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Richard Gasquet Finds New Coach for 2009 Season

Andy Murray pulled a miracle out of his scrawny little butt. Two sets down to the eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet is really not a great way to try and get into the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. But if Murray just wasn’t the little tall Brit that could.

The third set went the distance, and Murray came out ahead in a tiebreak. It was the turning point of the match, and Murray had all cylinders firing in the last two sets (6-2, 6-4) to make his come-from-behind victory over Gasquet complete.

Bad news for Murray and all the Brits though – Rafael Nadal is Murray’s quarterfinal opponent. ‘Nuf said.

Post from: EveryJoe

British Star Still Shining!

Apparently I won’t be able to fulfill my life-long dream of being a Frenchman’s tennis coach, though. Gasquet will be coached by Guillaume Peyre, as will Nicholas Mahut. Peyre is a coach for Team Lagardere, the players’ management company.

It doesn’t say, but I can’t really picture this being a long-term deal for Gasquet. He parted with his coach a week before the French Open and there are no players besides Roger Federer aren’t many players who want to take on a Grand Slam without a coach. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Gasquet pick up a different coach after the dust from Roland Garros settles.

The way Gasquet has been playing, that dust is likely to settle early on in the fortnight.

(Image: Newscom)
Richard Gasquet returns a ball at the Rome Masters.

Post from: EveryJoe

Coaching Change for Richard Gasquet

Querrey got soundly beat in the first set 6-2 by Gasquet. Querrey showed his tenacity and mental strength by winning the final two sets 6-4, 6-3. In fact, Querrey broke Gasquet to go up 5-3 in the third and then closed out the match with a strong service game. Actually the last two games of the third set were all Sam Querrey: he won both at 40-15.

Image details: Sony Ericsson Open Day 3 served by picapp.com

This 20-year-old has officially impressed me. Now how will he do in the quarters against Novak Djokovic?

Post from: EveryJoe

Monte Carlo: Querrey Overcomes Gasquet