Djokovic again reaches Dubai semis

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Defending champion Novak Djokovic won in straight sets Thursday and earned a slot in the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis championships.

Djokovic, seeded second, survived a tight first set and ran away with the second in a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Florian Mayer. Djokovic finished off four of his seven break-point chances and won one fewer (29-28) point than Mayer on Mayer's service games.

Third-seeded Tomas Berdych overcame an 11-ace attack by Philipp Petzschner and claimed a 7-5, 6-4 win. There were five service breaks in the seesaw first set, but Berdych recorded the only break in the second set.

Top-seeded Roger Federer lost his first service game but still had the easiest time in the quarterfinals, taking out Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-4. Stakhovsky had eight break-point chances against Federer but didn't convert any after the match's first game.

Richard Gasquet defeated Gilles Simon 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in a match that took more than 2 hours.

That earned Gasquet a semifinal face-off with Federer, against whom he has lost his last seven matches. Djokovic owns a 5-1 series edge over Berdych going into that semifinal Friday.