DUBAI - Tomas Berdych marked his tenth appearance at the Dubai Tennis Championships with a 6-1, 6-4 thumping of Joao Sousa to reach the second round on Tuesday. The Czech seventh seed who arrived in the Gulf after a semi-final last weekend in Marseille, has twice finished a finalist at the Aviation Club and has reached the semis here at four of the last five editions.
The ATP number seven improved to 21-9 at the event as he prepares to face 144th-ranked Thomas Fabbiano after the Italian defeated Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-4. Berdych won his opening set in just 23 minutes but had to come out on top in the second set after an exchange of three consecutive breaks to deny Sousa any chance of beating a top 10 player for only the second time in his career.
Berdych double-faulted on a first match point but fired over an ace on the second to advance. "He was struggling in the first set, he could only get better," the winner said. "He started to play a little bit more solid, a little bit more aggressive from his forehand side, his stronger one.
"He pushed me a bit more, but overall my performance was quite good. it's good to go through and not make things too complicated." Spanish fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut kept up the winning pace he has established this season as he claimed his 15th victory of 2016, defeating Italian Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-4.
Spain's number three has made his best career start and already owns trophies in Auckland and Sofia. "It's been the best start for me, so I have to be confident for sure," the Spaniard said as he prepared to face South Korea's Chung Hyeon in the second round. "I feel great on the court, and I feel I have a lot of rhythm. I played a lot of matches. It's good to win matches and to have confidence. I served really well and played very solid during all the match. I was returning well and pushing a lot of pressure on him."
German eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber beat Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 7-5 while Croatian youngster Borna Coric defeated Czech Jiri Vesely 6-4, 6-4. Second seed Stan Wawrinka, playing Dubai for the first time in eight years, was opening later against Sergiy Stakhovsky, whom he battled last week in France. Marseille winner Nick Kyrgios was making his local debut as he played Martin Klizan, the seventh seed
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic hammered Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-2 at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday, winning the 699th match of his career. "Every milestone is very special, of course. I wish to make the 700th win in this tournament, obviously," said the world number one. He added: "But it's not going to affect too much my preparation for the next match. It's not going to change too much the way I approach the next match or this tournament. So of course I'll be very pleased if it happens here. If not, maybe next one." Djokovic one now stands 13-0 this season as he bids for a third 2016 title after trophies in Doha and Melbourne. He last played in the final at Melbourne Park, beating Andy Murray.
The top seed will next face Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri, who advanced over qualifier Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-1. "Obviously playing the first match in three weeks, different conditions, I didn't know how I'm going to start, whether or not I'm going to execute the game plan," Djokovic said. "But everything went well, very few things went wrong. I was putting constant pressure on his serve. I returned very, very well. I served solid and was aggressive from back of the court. I cannot be happier with this performance. I'm glad to be back with a solid win.”
The 123rd-ranked Jaziri knows his chances against the best in the world will be extremely limited - but he's not totally without hope. "It should be a good match. I will try to enjoy it on court and I will play all my chances," said the 32-year-old North African. "Novak's playing his best tennis now, and he's beating everyone. But I will be on court like all the matches. In tennis you never know. That's part of this beautiful game. Who knows? Maybe I'll wake up on a good day." Djokovic has played finals at his last 17 events, winning 13.
Jaziri has plenty of previous time on court with Djokovic after practise sessions between the pair. "In Doha (last January) I practised with him and in Australia. He's playing his best level, he's winning maybe most all tournaments," Jaziri said. "I have nothing to lose, you know. But first let's see him win his match and then we see."
Djokovic is playing Dubai for a tenth year in succession, now 35-5 in the emirate. He owns Dubai titles from 2009-2011 and 2013; he lost the final to Roger Federer last year. Popular Marcos Baghdatis delivered the first upset of the week as he put out Serbian fifth seed Viktor Troicki 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 despite nearly 40 unforced errors. The Cypriot will next face Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who defeated Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
South Korea's rising Chung Hyeon made a winning Dubai debut, beating Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4 a day after the Italian turned 32. Canadian Vasek Pospisil defeated Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Marseille winner Nick Kyrgios was due in Dubai later after winning the first title of his career in France over Marin Cilic. The 20-year-old Australian starts his campaign on Tuesday night, facing Slovak Martin Klizan, winner of the Rotterdam event eight days ago.