Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: Stefanos Tsitsipas makes winning return

Greek player sets up meeting with Khachanov but Arab players Habib and Dougaz crash out

Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates after winning his round of 32 match against Italy's Lorenzo Sonego. Reuters

After a five-year absence from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas returned with a straight-sets victory on Monday, defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 7-6, 6-3 to advance to the second round.

The World No 11 has enjoyed relative success at the emirate’s ATP 500 event in the past, having twice reached the final, in 2019 and 2020, only to lose to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

This year, returning as No 4 seed and back playing on the familiar hard blue Centre Court at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Tsitsipas looked comfortable once again, navigating a tight opening set before asserting control in the second.

Having broken Sonego midway through the first set, Tsitsipas immediately let his opponent level for 4-4 when he failed to hold serve.

And as both players held for the remainder of the set it was the two-time Grand Slam finalist who found himself staring at a 3-0 deficit early in the tiebreaker. Yet he rallied and managed to turn it around through a series of aggressive returns.

“It was not an easy first-round match,” said Tsitsipas, who saw his head-to-head record against the Italian improve to 4-0. “There were a few troubles in the tiebreaker, but it was great towards the end. I felt I was in a bit of trouble at the end of the first set, but I came up with some good returns and I think my attacking game redeemed myself in that moment – I was not backing down and that was something I was genuinely pleased with.

“I’m happy with how things turned out. The second set felt like the better set. I just went for my shots and they worked. It was a high-paced match. Against players like Lorenzo, you can’t blink because they can come up with all kinds of shots and can be dangerous in those moments. My return games were very important today in terms of coming up with solutions when I needed them the most.”

Tsitsipas will face unseeded Karen Khachanov next – a player he knows well having faced him nine times on Tour and having trained together occasionally in Dubai during the off-season.

Khachanov, a resident of the UAE since 2016, will be hoping to improve is 1-8 head-to-head record when the two meet on Wednesday. He defeated British wildcard Dan Evans 6-1, 6-3 to snap a three-match losing streak and claim a maiden win against the Dubai 2020 semi-finalist having lost all five previous meetings.

“From the beginning, I was playing at a really great level. I haven't beaten [Evans] before – we always had tough matches – so I was really, really looking to get this first win,” said Khachanov, who added he will approach his second-round match with Tsitsipas with confidence. “I’m always, let’s say, believing in myself; I’m always going out there to fight.”

Earlier in the day, Arab wildcards Hady Habib of Lebanon and Tunisia’s Aziz Dougaz were both in action. Habib, who represented his country at the Olympics Games last summer in Paris, faced World No 27 Alexei Popyrin of Australia on Centre Court, losing 6-2, 6-4; while Dougaz lost 6-3, 6-3 to Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.

In the late match, France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard overcame China’s Zhizhen Zhang in straight sets, although faced set-points in the second and required a tiebreaker to close out the win. Ranked World No29, the 21-year-old provided an exciting showcase of his increasingly fearsome power, including a huge 235kph second-serve during the tiebreaker.

“I felt confident,” said Mpetshi Perricard. “It was a tough first match, but I did a good tiebreaker and am very happy to get the win. I hope to play like this in the second round.”

Next up for the Frenchman will likely be top seed and World No5 Daniil Medvedev, who faces unseeded Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday. Medvedev is also no stranger to a powerful serve so – save for a shock upset by Germany’s Struff – Wednesday could provide fans with an engrossing showcase of sheer power from the service line.