Dubai: Top seed and former semi-finalist Jurgen Melzer of Austria was joined by the UAE’s Omar Behroozian and Hamad Abbas Al Janahi at the exit foor of the qualifying rounds of the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open on Saturday.
On a day when sandstorms continued to affect visibility, Melzer went down in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 against Laslo Djere of Serbia, Behroozian crashed 6-3, 6-3 against Frenchman Lucas Pouille while Al Janahi suffered a ‘double bagel’ 6-0, 6-0 loss to Great Britain’s James Ward in a mere 32 minutes.
“That was easy for me,” Ward told Gulf News as he walked off court without even breaking a sweat against the UAE’s second best player.
“The actual competition for me will start tomorrow [against Marius Copil]. He [Al Janahi] told me he has not played for the past one year and I sort of feel sorry for the kid,” he added.
Behroozian, the UAE’s mainstay at the Davis Cup, showed much better temperament as he took his chances against a higher-ranked Pouille. Behroozian even broke his French opponent in the fourth game of the second set, but could not sustain the pressure as he lost in less than an hour.
Marking his third visit to Dubai, Melzer’s best performance came in 2010 when he lost to Mikhail Youzhny in the semi-finals. But on Saturday, the Austrian could not match neither the constantly changing weather conditions nor his opponent from Serbia as he surrendered after winning the first set.
