Lucas Pouille showed few ill-effects from his quick turnaround from Marseille to reach the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis.
Pouille, seeded second in Dubai, reached the final of the Marseille Open on Sunday and was back in action inside the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium on Tuesday evening against a tricky opponent once ranked in the top 10.
However, Pouille did enough against Gulbis to earn victory. A single break, earned in the fifth game, was enough to hand Pouille a one-set lead before the world No 15 moved into a 3-1 lead in the second set.
Gulbis levelled the second set by earning his solitary break of the match in the sixth game, only for Pouille to reclaim the advantage the following game before serving out the match.
Pouille could face Karen Khachanov in the second round in a rematch of the Marseille Open final, if the Russian gets past Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin.
Herbert sets up Bautista Agut meeting
France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert set up a second-round meeting with third seed Roberto Bautista Agut at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 win over Joao Sousa of Portugal on Tuesday.
After most of the first set went with serve, Sousa claimed the all-important break in the ninth game before serving out the opener. Both players exchanged breaks at the start of the second set before Herbert edged ahead for a 4-2 lead. Sousa fought back with Herbert serving to level the match, only for the 72nd-ranked Portuguese to surrender his serve at the most crucial time as Herbert sent the match into a decider.
The third set went entirely on serve to lead to the inevitable tie-break, which after lasting 18 points, saw world No 99 Herbert clinch the victory on his third match point.
Krajinovic rebounds from poor start to beat Fabbiano
Filip Krajinovic recovered from a first-set whitewash to defeat Italian Thomas Fabbiano 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 and reach the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships second round.
Krajinovic, seeded seventh in Dubai, was broken three successive times to lose the first set in just 24 minutes. However, the world No 34 responded emphatically, breaking Fabbiano in the opening game of the second set before a second break earned him a 4-1 lead.
Krajinovic was in the ascendancy, and after breaking Fabbiano in the third game of the final set, moved a double break ahead before serving out the match.
The Serbian world No 34 will take on 2016 finalist Marcos Baghdatis in the second round.
Borna #Coric defeats Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-3 to go through Dubai 1st round pic.twitter.com/CSIED5dS0Q
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) February 27, 2018
Coric too good for 'semi-injured' Gasquet
Croatia's Borna Coric produced the first minor shock of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships by defeating Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-3 in Centre Court's first match on Tuesday.
Coric, ranked 13 places lower than Gasquet at No 50, asserted an early dominance by breaking Gasquet to love in his first service game to move into a 3-0 lead. However, Gasquet struck back with Coric serving for the opening set at 5-3, only for the 31-year-old Frenchman to surrender his serve when serving to stay in the set.
The second set then started the way of the first with Coric claiming a 3-0 lead. Once again, Gasquet fought back to get back on serve at 3-4, only for his Croatian opponent to break straight back before serving out the match.
"I knew he was semi-injured," Coric, 21, said. "I knew because we were supposed to practice on Friday. He cancelled. I didn't know how injured he was. I knew he was injured on Friday.
"He did came back in the both sets. It was pretty good effort from him, especially because he was injured. But I managed to stay calm. I didn't panic. It was good."
Coric will face another Frenchman, Benoit Paire, for a place in the quarter-finals.
A swift 56-minute 6-2 6-4 win for @Struffitennis over #Andreas Haider-Maurer #DDFTennis #advantagedubai
— Dubai Tennis Champs (@DDFTennis) February 27, 2018
Good stuff from Struff
Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff was the first player on Tuesday to book his place in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 win over Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria.
Struff, the world No 56, needed just 57 minutes to defeat 417th-ranked Haider-Maurer, racing through the first set in just 22 minutes having secured successive breaks of serve at the start of the match.
The 27-year-old German was pushed harder in a second set that saw him lose his serve twice, but three breaks of his own ensured he advanced to the second round.
Struff will face either Japanese No 8 seed Yuichi Sugita or Ilya Ivashka of Belarus for a place in the quarter-finals.
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ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: Everything you need to know
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