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Photos by Nida Alibhai
(February 24, 2015) Dubai UAE – The top seeds advanced into the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday, with wins for Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych.
This week not only is Djokovic, looking for a fifth Dubai title, he is aiming for his 50th career singles crown. The 8-time major champion defeated Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4.
“Well, first match since Australian Open final, so still looking for that rhythm on the court,” said Djokovic. “But I managed to stay mentally tough. Patient in rallies, I thought. As soon as we get through the rally, I have a better chance of winning. He’s a very flashy player, aggressive, goes after his shots. I just utilized my opportunities.”
Andy Murray held off a game Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-5.
“I made him work very hard I think on his service games. That was something I wanted to try to do from early on in the match,” said Murray. “I think the end of both sets I didn’t serve so well, but apart from that I didn’t give him any opportunities really. I thought I played a fairly high quality match.”
Tomas Berdych stopped Jeremy Chardy 7-6(2), 6-4. Chardy had a chance to serve out the first set, but failed.
“Some of the things were a little bit on my side that I made it complicated a bit more than usual, but the outcome, it’s important that I won the last point of the match and get through it,” said Berdych. “Not every day it’s going to be perfect.”
Sixth seed Feliciano Lopez and seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut both won, but eighth seed David Goffin was upset 6-2, 7-5 by wild card Marcos Baghdatis. The Cypriot defeated the Belgian for the second time this year, winning the in second round of the Australian Open.
Rising ATP star lucky loser Borna Coric survived Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. He’ll face Baghdatis next.
DUBAI RESULTS – TUESDAY, 24 FEBRUARY 2015
Singles – First Round
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) d V. Pospisil (CAN) 64 64
[3] A. Murray (GBR) d G. Muller (LUX) 64 75
[4] T. Berdych (CZE) d J. Chardy (FRA) 76(2) 64
[6] F. Lopez (ESP) d [Q] J. Ward (GBR) 64 64
[7] R. Bautista Agut (ESP) d D. Thiem (AUT) 63 62
[WC] M. Baghdatis (CYP) d [8] D. Goffin (BEL) 62 75
[Q] M. Ilhan (TUR) d [WC] A. Zverev (GER) 61 76(4)
S. Bolelli (ITA) d [Q] L. Pouille (FRA) 63 63
S. Stakhovsky (UKR) d L. Rosol (CZE) 46 61 64
[LL] B. Coric (CRO) d M. Jaziri (TUN) 57 63 63
F. Verdasco (ESP) d G. Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 75 61
Doubles – First Round
[2] J. Rojer (NED) / H. Tecau (ROU) d [WC] R. Federer (SUI) / M. Lammer (SUI) 64 76(12)
J. Chardy (FRA) / L. Rosol (CZE) d S. Bolelli (ITA) / A. Seppi (ITA) 60 61
R. Lindstedt (SWE) / M. Matkowski (POL) d [LL] A. Golubev (KAZ) / D. Istomin (UZB) 76(11) 36 10-6
SCHEDULE – WEDNESDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2015
CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm
J. Sousa (POR) vs [3] A. Murray (GBR)
Not Before 4:00 pm
[4] T. Berdych (CZE) vs S. Bolelli (ITA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs A. Golubev (KAZ)
F. Verdasco (ESP) vs [2] R. Federer (SUI)
COURT 1 start 3:00 pm
[7] R. Bautista Agut (ESP) vs R. Gasquet (FRA)
[Q] J. Murray (GBR) / J. Peers (AUS) vs R. Klaasen (RSA) / L. Paes (IND)
[1] B. Bryan (USA) / M. Bryan (USA) vs R. Bautista Agut (ESP) / J. Sousa (POR)
COURT 2 start 3:00 pm
S. Stakhovsky (UKR) vs D. Istomin (UZB)
COURT 3 start 3:00 pm
[WC] M. Baghdatis (CYP) vs [LL] B. Coric (CRO)
Not Before 4:00 pm
[3] V. Pospisil (CAN) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs A. Qureshi (PAK) / N. Zimonjic (SRB)
[Q] M. Ilhan (TUR) vs [6] F. Lopez (ESP)