Dubai: Novak Djokovic won his third consecutive Dubai title in 2011 by beating Roger Federer 6-3, 6-3.
The No 2 seed had struggled to defeat former finalist Feliciano Lopez in the second round, and he was also stretched by third seed Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals before the Czech was forced to retire with a quad muscle injury as Djokovic led 4-2 in the deciding set.
Federer, by contrast, sailed through all his matches in straight sets, but was unable to overcome the Serb in the final.
Caroline Wozniacki justified her top seeding by winning what was to be the first of her six titles for the year, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1 6-3 in the women's final.
