After the title drought in nearly the whole of 2013, Roger Federer’s sixth Dubai Open victory assumes significance. The determined 17-Grand Slam victor demonstrated why he cannot be discounted just yet. About a month back, he reached the Australian open semifinal by beating Andy Murray but lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinal. This week in Dubai, Federer first beat world no. 2 Novak Djokovic in the semifinal and then fought a tense battle with world no. 6 Tomas Berdych to win the tournament. This was Federer’s 78th career title.