Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic met twice at the start of the 2012 season. The Briton finished the previous season strongly, reaching the semi-final of the Australian Open in early 2012. Novak Djokovic beat him en route to defending the title. , and they met again in the semi-final in Dubai.
It was the 12th meeting between the peers. Murray earned his fifth victory, beating Djokovic 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 23 minutes to set up the final match against Roger Federer.
. The Brit fended off two of three break chances and stole 42% of return points.
He converted them into four breaks of five chances to control the tempo and close out the match after a tight second set. Andy had more winners than unforced errors, while Novak sprayed too many errors, unable to find a rhythm on the return or impose his shots in rallies.
The Serb remained in love in the first two service games. That changed at 2-3 when his forehand landed long, pushing Murray in front before creating two break chances in the next game.
Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in the 2012 Dubai semi-final.
Andy kept his cool and racked up four points in a row, closing out the game with a service winner to extend the lead to 5-2 and take a big step into the first set.
Losing ground at those times, Novak broke at 15 in game eight after Andy’s game-winning backhand, allowing the opponent to close out the opening set in 30 minutes. Things went from bad to worse for the Serb. He sent a deflected forehand in the second game of the second set to suffer a break at 15 before Andy opened up a 3-0 lead with a backhand down the line winner in the next.
With no room for error, Novak was held at love in game four but couldn’t do much on the return in games five and seven, serving to stay in the match at 2-5. The Serb held at 15 in game eight to reduce the deficit and fell back at the last moment a few minutes later to extend the set and gain some serious momentum.
The defending champion leveled the score at 5-5 when Andy hit a forehand, looking better and better and trying to turn around and steal the set. The Brit delivered a much-needed hold at 15 with an ace that sent him 6-5 up.
Andy ended his slide and created two match points in the next game after Novak’s backhand error. The Serb netted a forehand to hand the game and the match to Murray, who faced Roger Federer in the final the next day.
