The National's Ahmed Rizvi and Jon Turner are at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to bring you live reports from the ATP tournament action. Check back for up-to-the-minute updates.
Wawrinka d Stakhovsky 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
Stan Wawrinka, the No 2 seed, survived a first-round scare on Tuesday, fighting back from a set down to defeat Sergiy Stakhovsky 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.
Wawrinka broke for a 5-3 lead and should have wrapped up the first set on his serve, but the Swiss dropped his serve and Stakhovsky broke him for a second time to serve out for the set.
Broken in the opening game of the second set, Wawrinka, down 3-1, won the final five games to force the match into a deciding set.
Stakhovsky, ranked No 92 in the world, went toe-to-toe with the two-time grand slam champion in the third set, usually leaving Wawrinka stranded with his net play. A string of errors in the 11th game, however, allowed to the Swiss to break for a 6-5 lead before serving out for the match at love.
Wawrinka will now meet Croatian qualifier Franko Skugor in Wednesday’s second round.
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
SINGLES
2-Stan Wawrinka (SUI) beat Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
7-Martin Klizan (SVK) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
4-Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA) 6-2, 6-4
3-Tomas Berdych (CZE) beat Joao Sousa (POR) 6-1, 6-4
8-Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) beat Marsel Ilan (WC, TUR) 6-1, 7-5
Borna Coric (CRO) beat Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-4, 6-4
Thomas Fabiano (Q, ITA) beat Leonado Mayer (ARG) 6-3, 6-4
Franko Skugor (Q, CRO) beat Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 6-2, 6-3
Lukas Rosol (CZE) beat Yuki Bhambri (WC, IND) 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-0
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) beat Denis Istomin (UZB) 7-5, 7-6(3)
DOUBLES
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) / Marc Lopez (ESP) beat Dominic Inglot (GBR) / Robert Lindstedt (SWE) 7-6(3), 6-3
Hyeon Chung (KOR) / Jiri Vesely (CZE) beat Vasek Pospisil (CAB) / Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 6-4, 6-4
Simone Bolelli (ITA) / Andreas Seppi (ITA) beat Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) / Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 6-4, 6-2
Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) / Horia Tecau (ROU) beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) / Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-2, 7-5
Rosol d Bhambri 2-6, 7-6, 6-0
Lukas Rosol began his sixth Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a tense come-from-behind win against Indian wild-card Yuki Bhambri.
Rosol, the world No 51, was in serious danger of a first-round elimination, and after losing the opening set 6-2, the Czech found himself down 3-1 in the second. Serving to stay in the match at 5-6, Rosol was 0-40 down but saved all three match points to force the tie-break. After winning the tie-break 7-2, Rosol stormed through the deciding set 6-0 in just 21 minutes.
Rosol will take on Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in the second round after the No 6 seed defeated compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Monday.
Berdych d Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-4
Tomas Berdych, the No 3 seed, is safely through to the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
Berdych, 30, is twice a losing finalist in Dubai, and unsurprisingly the Czech looked very much at home on Centre Court as he raced into a one-set lead in just 23 minutes.
The second set proved a more competitive affair, and after Berdych broke for a 3-2 lead, Sousa immediately claimed a break of his own. However, Berdych responded with another break for a 4-3 lead, and after exchanges of serve, closed the match out with a thunderous ace.
Berdych will face qualifier Thomas Fabbiano in the second round after the Italian stunned Argentine Leonardo Mayer earlier in the day.
Franko Skugor upsets Tymuraz Gabashvili
Over on Court 2, another qualifier produced a shock result as world No 139 Franko Skugor from Croatia defeated Russia’s world No 47 Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2, 6-3.
Skugor will face either No 2 seed Stan Wawrinka or Ukraine’s Sergei Stakhovsky in the next round.
There was not such surprise on Court 1 as No 8 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber successfully navigated his way past wild-card Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 7-5 in one hour and 27 minutes.
Germany’s Kohlschreiber will take on Croatia’s Borna Coric for a place in the quarter-finals.
Borna Coric through with 6-4, 6-4 win over Jiri Vesely
Rising Croatian star Borna Coric is through to the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic.
Coric, 19, was up 5-2 in the first set after breaking Vesely twice, but failed to serve out for the set on first attempt. He got the job done on second attempt, wrapping up the set in 43 minutes.
In the second set, the highly-rated teenager — who has already beaten the likes of Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal and is being billed as Novak Djokovic’s successor — broke in the third game and then served three break points on his own serve to take a 3-1 lead and that was enough to seal the fate of the match.
Roberto Bautista Agut d. Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-4
Roberto Bautista Agut, the No 4 seed, made short work of Simone Bolelli, defeating the Italian 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 25 minutes in the day’s opening match on Centre Court to book his place in the second round.
Bautista Agut, the winner in Auckland and Sofia this year, broke Bolelli twice at the start of the match for a 4-0 lead and then closed out the first set in 32 minutes. The world No 18 then broke in the seventh game to inch ahead in the second set and served out for his place in the second round, where he meets promising South Korean teenager Hyeon Chung, who defeated Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4 on Monday.
On Court Three, Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano, ranked No 144 in the world, stunned Argentine Leonardo Mayer, the world No 40, 6-3, 6-4 to book his place in the second round.
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Match of the day
Martin Klizan (SVK) v Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
On paper, the most even match-up of the first round. Only eight places separate Klizan (No 25) and Kyrgios (No 33) in the world rankings and both players have enjoyed title-winning starts to the season.
Klizan, 26, triumphed in Rotterdam last week, while Kyrgios, 20, picked up the first ATP title of his young career in Marseille on Sunday.
It should be an interesting clash of styles as Klizan’s dependable all-round game takes on the fireworks of Kyrgios.
The Australian is slight favourite, although possible weariness from the quick turnaround from France could play a part.
Order of play
CENTRE COURT
From 2pm:
4-Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)
3-Tomas Berdych (CZE) vs Joao Sousa (POR)
From 7pm:
2-Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
7-Martin Klizan (SVK) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
COURT ONE
From 2pm:
Borna Coric (CRO) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE)
8-Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs Marsel Ilan (WC, TUR)
Not before 4:45pm:
Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) / Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA) / Andreas Seppi (ITA)
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)
COURT TWO
From 2pm:
Thomas Fabiano (Q, ITA) vs Leonado Mayer (ARG)
Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs Franko Skugor (Q, CRO)
Vasek Pospisil (CAB) / Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) vs Hyeon Chung (KOR) / Jiri Vesely (CZE)
COURT THREE
From 2pm:
Dominic Inglot (GBR) / Robert Lindstedt (SWE) vs Feliciano Lopez (ESP) / Marc Lopez (ESP)
Yuki Bhambri (WC, IND) vs Lukas Rosol (CZE)
Not before 4pm:
Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) / Horia Tecau (ROU) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) / Viktor Troicki (SRB)
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