Roger Federer came from behind to knock out reigning champion Novak Djokovic and reach the Dubai Tennis Championships final on Friday.
Fourth seed Federer went a set down to Djokovic in the ATP 500 hard-court event, but fought back to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 — his first over the world's No. 2 player in 18 months.
Djokovic stormed into a 3-0 lead, but Federer hit back in the second set. After Djokovic wasted a break point at 2-2, Federer broke serve to move into a 4-2 lead. Djokovic failed to get another break.
Federer will now meet Tomas Berdych in Saturday's final. Berdych ousted Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 7-5.
Djokovic was defending champion at Dubai. Federer is seeking his sixth Dubai title and now leads Djokovic 17-15 in head-to-head matches.
Contributing: OmniSport, The Associated Press