Federer, Djokovic heading for tennis showdown

Federer of Switzerland and third-ranked Serbian Novak Djokovic renew their rivalry this week at the Dubai Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates. The top-seeded Federer will be looking for revenge against Djokovic, who beat him in the semifinals of the Australian Open on his way to winning the title at the opening Grand Slam event of the 2011 season.
Federer leads Djokovic, 23, 13-7 in their all-time head-to-head meetings. But the Serbian comes into Dubai with the momentum and confidence that his career will continue its upward climb.
In semifinal matches Friday, Federer beat Richard Gasquet of France 6-2, 7-5 and Djokovic beat a hobbling Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, whose thigh injury caused him to retire while trailing 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 4-2.