Eighteen-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer got off to a winning start at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a comfortable 6-1 6-3 victory in just 54 minutes over Frenchman Benoit Paire in his first match since his triumph at the Australian Open in Melbourne last January. Federer won 70 percent of his first service points and saved all three points he faced. He broke serve twice in the first set and twice more in the second set to claim his fourth win in as many matches against Paire.
Federer got his first break to love with a backhand return in the fourth game of the opening set to take a 3-1 lead. Paire earned three break back points in the next game as Federer missed a pair of forehands. The Swiss star saved them and fended off a third opportunity with a forehand volley to hold his serve at deuce for 4-1. Paire took a medical time-out to have his right anke taped.
In the sixth game Federer rallied from 15-40 down on Paire’s serve to get the double break at deuce to race out to a 5-1 lead. The third seeded player earned two set points with an ace down the middle followed by a return error from Paire. Federer served out on his first set point in the next game, as Paire sent a return into the net.
Federer struggled in two service games where he held serve at deuce twice but did not have to save any break points. The second set went on serve until Federer got the break to love to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth game as Paire made a double fault before hitting a shot into the net. In the eighth game Paire rallied from 15-40 as Federer hit a smash into the net but the Swiss player won his service game at deuce. Paire hit his volley into the net to face three match points but saved the first opportunity as Federer sent his return into the net. Paire saved the second match point with an ace.
Federer got his second break of the second set on his third match point to claim his 48th match win and his 11th consecutive win in Dubai.
Federer will take on the winner of the all-Russian match between Mikhail Youzhny or Evgeniy Donskoy on Wednesday. He could face Andy Murray in the semifinal and Stan Wawrinka in the final.
“I think I returned very wellfor a first round. I was able to get my second serves in deep. I was able to go into the offensive quickly. I didn’t have to move that much. The rallies were very quick. We will see how that’s going to turn out biut obviously it could not be a better first round for me here in Dubai. I have played here for many years and I have seen the tournament grow. Fans and myself know how special it is for me to be back on the court. It was a nice welcome. Even though I won in Australia, I still feel like I am a work in progress. I feel there is a little of the unknown. I don’t know what to expect myself. Especially if I were to win matches here, how is my body and my my mind going to react to back-to-back matches ? I haven’t done that in seven or eight months. I will try to take it easy and not put too much pressure on myself”, said Federer.
Phillip Kohlschreiber started his eighth campaign with a win over this year’s Apia International champion Gilles Muller 6-4 7-6 (7-1) in 88 minutes. Kohlschreiber has scored the 398th match win of his career. The German veteran, who reached the semifinal in 2014 and the quarter final in 2016, is within two match wins of the career 400th match win mark. Kohlschreiber turned pro in 2001 and made his first main draw appearance in 2002 in Munich. He won his first title in 2007 in his home tournament in Munich and went on to lift seven titles.
Muller saved two break points in the first game of the opening set but Kohlschreiber got the only break of the opening set in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. The German player held his next service games without facing any break points and sealed the first set on his second set point. The second set went on serve in the first four games before Kkohlschreiber got his second break of the match to take a 3-2 lead. Muller saved a double break point at deuce. The player from Luxemburg broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4 and consolidated it to win his third consecutive game for 5-4. Both players held their serve in the next three games en route to the tie-break. Kohlschreiber earned three mini-breaks to race out to a 5-0 en route to winning the tie-break by 7-1.
Kohlschreiber will face either Next Gen player Danil Medvedev or wild card Omar Alawadhi.
“Hopefully I can achieve the mark here in this tournament. It would be great and mean I am in the semifinals”, said Kohlschreiber.
Roberto Bautista Agut beat Next Gen player Karen Khachanov 6-1 7-6 (7-4). The Spanish player went up a double break in the second and sixth games en route to cruising through to a 6-1 in the first set. Khachanov went up a break in the sixth game of the second set to take a 4-2 lead. Bautista Agut broke straight back in the next game. The next games went on serve en route to the tie-break where Bautista Agut sealed the win by 7-4 on his first match point.
Gael Monfils broke serve once in each set to cruise through to a 6-3 6-4 win against Egypt’s Mohamed Safwat. The Frenchman held all his service games and faced just one break point in the fifth game of the first set. Safwat saved six break points in the 8th game of the first set to hold his serve for 4-4. Monfils sealed the first set with a break in the 10th game. Safwat saved four more break points in the fourth game of the second set but dropped his serve to love in the sixth game. Safwat saved two break points as he was serving to stay in the match at 2-5 but Monfils served out for the match to 30 in the next game.
Marcel Granollers dropped just three of his first service points to defeat Jiri Vesely 6-3 6-2 in 1 hour and 17 minutes.