Dubai: Defending champion Novak Djokovic sailed through unscathed, while a former two-time finalist fell to a qualifier on the opening day of the 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.
The Serbian world No 2, one of the two hot favourites here along with Briton Andy Murray following the withdrawal of Roger Federer, went through to the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ranked 45 places below him.
But that was after two-time Dubai finalist Feliciano Lopez fell in straight sets 7-6 (4), 6-4 to qualifier Stefan Koubek, who led a perfect Austrian evening along with Jurgen Melzer, who in turn won 6-1, 7-5 against Italian Simone Bolelli.
Lopez, runner-up on two occasions here in 2004 against Federer and in 2008 against Andy Roddick did well to take the first set into the tie-break on Court No 3 against Austrian qualifier Koubek. But he could not sustain some incisive baseline hitting from Koubek as he went down in the tie-break 7-4 and then gave in easily in the second 6-4 to become one of the early casualties of this tournament this year.
Clinical approach
Baghdatis was another big winner of the evening when he stopped the return of eighth-seeded Gilles Simon 7-6 (3), 6-4 on centre court. Suffering from severe cramping due to food poisoning, the Cypriot broke Simon in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead. But he was broken right back to push the set into a tie-break that he went on to win 7-3.
In the second he was more clinical with his approach and went on to finish set and match in an hour and 42 minutes to advance to a second round meeting either against Marco Chiudinelli or Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman, who will be on court later today. "The only thing I can say I fought through all that's all. I tried to stay in the match and that's what I did," Baghdatis said.
"I want to see the doctor first. I am happy I am not playing tomorrow (Tuesday), so I will have the day off. I cannot say much. If I am not fit then I can lose to anybody," the Cypriot added.
Later in the night, Djokovic looked every bit the confident defender after weathering a tough first set against his 47th ranked Spanish opponent. And then just when it looked as though he would go through easily after leading 5-0 in the second, egged on by a full stadium the Spaniard fought right back with breaks in the seventh and ninth to make it 4-5.
However, Djokovic had the final say when he broke in the very next game to clinch it 6-4 in an hour and 37 minutes to set up a meeting against fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki.
Results
First round: Jurgen Melzen bt Simone Bolelli 6-1, 7-5; Marcos Baghdatis bt Gilles Simon 7-6 (3), 6-4; Stefan Koubek bt Feliciano Lopez 7-6, 6-4; Ivan Ljubicic bt Jan Hernych 6-2, 6-7, 6-4; Viktor Troicki bt Rainer Schuettler 6-3, 6-4; Novak Djokovic bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-4.
