BEIJING, Feb. 28 -- Novak Djokovic reached his first final of the season when he beat third-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 at the Dubai Championships Friday. Djokovic repeated his semifinal victory over Simon at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai last November, where he went on to claim the title. The top-seeded Serb now faces either fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer or unseeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns the ball to France's Gilles Simon during the semifinals of the Dubai Championships in United Arab Emirates, Feb. 27, 2009. Inset: Simon reacts after missing a return from Djokovic

"I think I fought my way through in the match, really believed till the end, and mentally this is a very important win for me," Djokovic told reporters. "If I want to stay on top of the men's game, I have to win these matches, because Simon is certainly one of the best players in the world. "He plays a very unique game. He's very solid from all sides, and playing with a very small number of unforced errors, which ... when you see him, you don't think that physically he's that strong and he has great endurance."

It took Djokovic two hours 44-minutes to edge his opponent as both players struggled to produce their best tennis in the afternoon heat.

Djokovic was especially unstable during the first set and into the second as he failed to find any consistency.

Simon, though, was under early pressure as he fought off two break points at 1-1 before breaking to lead 4-2 when Djokovic made a forehand error.

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