Roger Federer did drink from the same fountain-of-youth cup that 33-year-old Venus Williams found a week earlier in Dubai and continues to surge forward with his tennis renaissance.
After Williams won her first tournament since 2012 with a win at the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open championship last week, the 32-year-old Federer won his first hard-court tournament since 2012 with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tomas Berdych at the Dubai Championships on Saturday.
The win represented Federer's 78th singles title and sixth at the Dubai event. Federer moved past John McEnroe for third place all time for singles championships and trails only Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl, tennis.si.com reported.
Federer, who owns the record for most weeks ranked No. 1 in the world at 302, had a subpar 2013 in which he failed to reach the final of a Grand Slam event, was bounced in the second round of Wimbledon to end his run of 36 consecutive appearances in the quarterfinals at a major event and then parted ways with coach Paul Annacone.
As a result, Federer's ranking fell to No. 8 in the world, his lowest since 2002. But under the guidance of new coach Stefan Edberg and having overcome a back injury that plagued his 2013 season, Federer is showing he still is a force in the game. He defeated world's No. 2 Novak Djokovic in three sets in the semis at Dubai.
"I have a lot of tennis in my body over the years, said Federer, according to Reuters. .
"I'm just happy I'm healthy again and that I can focus on tactics and not on 'Am I feeling alright when I wake up tomorrow?"
Federer's win helped him equal his title total from last season and gave him as many victories over top-10 opponents this year as he did last year - four.
Until Federer wins another slam, he'll continue to have his doubters that he can return to his No. 1 form. But the whispers of retirement surely have fallen silent.
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