Novak Djokovic talks up Tomas Berdych threat ahead of Dubai semi

Novak Djokovic insists that he is wary of the threat posed by Tomas Berdych ahead of his semi-final showdown with the Czech player in Dubai.

The world No1 and top seed will take on the 30-year-old for a place in the final of the Dubai Duty Free tournament.

And Djokovic believes that Berdych, along with David Ferrer, is the best player on the ATP Tour not to have won a Grand Slam.

“He’s an established top-10 player and one of the biggest rivals on the tour,” said Djokovic of Berdych.

“Tomas is somebody that has been on the tour for so long and playing in the highest possible level, I think that [he is] the best player in the world that hasn’t won a Grand Slam yet, next to Ferrer.

“He has a big game, big serve, and he has won against all of the top players on different surfaces.

“People don’t talk about his game too much because he hasn’t still won a Grand Slam, but he definitely deserves always to be in the mix of the favourites for an event, and he’s been showing that, especially in this event, back to back finals, 2013 and 2014.

“I think this surface more than others is quite suitable to his style of the game. It’s pretty quick. If he serves well, he can win against anybody, so very few points will decide a winner tomorrow.”