Top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime has returned to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with unfinished business, aiming to improve on last season’s runner-up showing.
The Canadian, ranked eight in the world, needed six match-points to finally secure victory over China’s Zhizhen Zhang on Monday, but he finally got the win he was looking for to safely progress to the Round of 16 where he will face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Auger-Aliassime opened his campaign at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium with a 6-3, 7-6 win. A year ago, the 25-year-old reached the title match but was denied the trophy by a red-hot Stefanos Tsitsipas. This time around, he arrives as one of the leading contenders for the title, with his face prominently positioned around the host venue’s expanded Tennis Village – a fact he is happy to embrace.
“It’s the right timing,” he said post-match. “It’s not like it’s too soon for me. I’ve been on this tour for quite some years now and been in this position as a teenager in junior Grand Slams too, so I like to be in this position where there is pressure on me and to see if I deliver. I am kind of testing my growth, self-belief, and composure – and I want to be in this position in even bigger tournaments one day.”
Against Zhang, he saved the four break points he faced, but also failed to convert either of the two match points he played on return at 5-4 and three more at 6-5 before holding his nerve in the tiebreak to avoid a third set.
“I stopped counting at some point; it was getting too frustrating,” he said. “It’s weird because having match points is the position you want to be in as a player, yet your mind plays a trick on you because how much further I am from losing, he’s the one who should be tight, but the players [leading] tend to actually get tight. But I kept telling myself if there’s a third set, I’ll be there.”
Next up is Mpetshi Perricard after the Frenchman saw off Tunisian wild card Moez Echargui, the Arab world’s top-ranked player on tour at 141.
Echargui pushed himself and his opponent to the limit in a gripping three-set encounter decided by the finest of margins, with all three sets going to tiebreaks before Mpetshi Perricard edged through. Such was the intensity, Mpetshi Perricard required medical timeouts for ankle pain and suggested he was “not very confident” he would recover fully in time for his next match.
For 33-year-old Echargui in contrast, February is proving very positive. Having made his ATP 500 debut last week in Doha, he said this month marks an important new chapter in his career. Competing on Centre Court against top-tier opposition is part of a broader learning curve as he and his team look to maximise wild card opportunities.
“Going on Centre Court and playing against top players, it is where we want to be, playing in these big tournaments, in front of these big crowds”, said Echargui, whose next stop is Indian Wells next week. “Despite the result, I’m feeling really positive about it. I knew the match would be a hard one, so I just tried to stay focused all the way through. I’m proud to represent my country and to represent all the Arab World – especially here in Dubai.”
Another Arab also in action on Monday’s opening day was Lebanese wild card Benjamin Hassan and while he may have exited in straight sets, the 31-year-old left Centre Court with his head held high after a spirited performance against three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka that ended with a congratulatory handshake from his Swiss opponent’s legendary compatriot, Roger Federer.
Meanwhile, for Wawrinka, the win sees him become the oldest player to win a match in the Dubai tournament’s 34-year history – usurping Federer, who won his record eighth title in 2019 at 37. “I’m not sure it’s the best record of his to have,” Wawrinka joked post-match as Federer clapped from the stands for his 2008 Olympic gold medal-winning doubles partner.
In the final match on Centre Court, British No1 Jack Draper eased back into life on tour following eight months out with a recurring arm injury. The No4 seed, demonstrating a new serve technique, hit 13 aces as he beat French qualifier Quentin Halys in straight sets 7-6, 6-3 to progress.
“Today was a little bit nervy,” said Draper, who reached as high as world No4 last June before a series of injuries struck. “It wasn’t my cleanest performance, but after all this time, I’m really proud of myself. The way I came out and competed. It wasn’t easy but from here on, hopefully I can go from strength to strength.”
