Roger Federer made his Dubai debut in 2002 and became a champion a year later, claiming his sixth ATP crown without losing a set. The Swiss defended the title in 2004, beating Feliciano Lopez in the final for his first trophy as world no.
1, preparing for a three-peat in 2005. Roger achieved that eventually, but the opening two rounds were anything but easy. The Swiss beat Ivo Minar and Juan Carlos Ferrero in the deciding set tie break after playing another against Ivan Ljubicic in Rotterdam.
Federer was a few points away from defeat against Minar after trailing 3-1 in the decider. Ferrero challenged him even stronger, creating two match points at 6-4 in the third set’s tie break. Roger kept his composure to win the last four points and book a place in the quarter-final, digging deep to continue his winning streak.
The battle lasted two hours and 16 minutes, and we saw three breaks of serve on each side. Roger had 11 chances to break the rival and saved six out of nine break points to prevail for the fifth time in eight matches against Juan Carlos in the last six seasons.
The action kicked off with a break of serve when Federer sent a forehand long, having to work hard to pull it back by the end of the set. The chance for that appeared in game four when he produced four break chances, wasting them to stay behind and send Juan Carlos 3-1 up.
A forehand winner gave Ferrero another break opportunity in game seven. Federer saved it with an ace and closed the game with a forehand down the line winner to remain in contention and within one break deficit. The Spaniard hit well from both wings and wrapped up the opening set with a service winner in game ten, taking a 6-4 lead and moving closer to the finish line.
Encouraged by this momentum, Juan Carlos created two break chances at the beginning of set number two and seized the second to gain a set and a break advantage.
Roger Federer denied two match points versus Juan Carlos Ferrero in Dubai 2005.
Roger had no room for errors if he wanted to return to the scoreboard.
He fired a backhand down the line winner to create three break points in game four. The second did the job for the Swiss when the Spaniard netted a smash, and the battle was on again. Roger was in the zone now. He secured another break at 3-2 following a loose backhand from Juan Carlos and rattled off five straight games to forge a 5-2 lead.
Ferrero could have broken back in game nine with three break chances up for grabs. However, Federer blasted three winners to repel them and cemented the set with a backhand winner for 6-3 and a decider. Roger wasted a break chance in the final set’s opening game and was on the verge of defeat at 2-3 when he offered an opportunity to Juan Carlos after a shaky forehand that landed long.
The defending champion saved it with a sharp volley at the net before falling on the second break point to push Ferrero 4-2 ahead. The next game proved one of the most important, and Juan Carlos could not stand the pressure.
The Spaniard hit a double fault to drop serve and the advantage, and the Swiss climbed back to level terms with a quick hold in game eight for 4-4. Both players held with ease in the last four games to set up a deciding tie break, where they kept their serve in the first nine points.
An ace gave Ferrero a 5-4 advantage, and a return winner delivered two match points for him. With his back pushed against the wall, Federer erased the first with a service winner and another when Ferrero’s forehand finished beyond the baseline, in his most expensive miss of the day.
A forehand winner earned the first match point for the Swiss, who completed the triumph with an unreturned serve in the 14th point, avoiding an early exit and continuing the charge toward his third Dubai crown.
