Roger Federer became world no. 1 in early February 2004 following his second Major title at the Australian Open. A few weeks later, Roger defended his Dubai Open title and lifted his first trophy as the world’s best player.
Federer faced Feliciano López in the final and scored a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory in one hour and 35 minutes for his second trophy in the desert.
. Roger played his first tournament as no. world. 1 in Rotterdam and lost to Tim Henman in the quarterfinals.
After a much-needed rest, Federer began his Dubai title defense with a narrow victory over Marat Safin in two tiebreaks. The Swiss ousted Tommy Robredo, Andrei Pavel and Jarkko Nieminen to advance to the title clash and set up the match against Lopez.
Roger got off to a slower start before taking charge in sets two and three, losing three games and sealing the deal in no time to celebrate the first title as world number one. 1.
Roger Federer defended his Dubai title over Feliciano Lopez in 2004.
Roger dropped 16 points in 13 service games, was broken once in the opener and dominated sets two and three to score four breaks and clinch his 13th ATP title.
Lopez had more winners and Federer had the upper hand in other segments. He made fewer unforced errors and forced more errors from the opponent to control the tempo after the first set and take home the win in no time. Roger was out front in the shorter and mid range exchanges.
He dominated the court with his serve and first groundstrokes to leave the opponent behind and add 300 points to his tally. Lopez got off to a perfect start, stealing Roger’s serve in the first game of the match and holding with an ace in the fourth game to open a 3-1 gap.
The Spaniard fired a forehand winner in the sixth game to hold love and fended off five break chances at 4-3 to stay in front following a service winner. Feliciano closed out the set with a game-winning volley at 5-4 after saving another break point.
Federer finally got a break in the fourth game of the second set. He landed a game-winning volley and gathered momentum that would keep him safe until the end of the match. The Swiss confirmed the break with a dominating hold and delivered another break in game six following the Spaniard’s forehand error.
Roger ended the set on unreturned serve in the seventh game to gain momentum and become the favorite going into the decider. Federer stole Lopez’s serve in the third game and extended the gap with another break at 3-1 when his opponent hit an easy volley.
world no. 1 served for the win at 5-2 and fired off a booming serve to celebrate her second straight desert title.
