Stefanos Tsitsipas edged past Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to reach the second round at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Tsitsipas returned for the first time to the hard-court tournament in Dubai, where he reached back-to-back finals in 2020 and 2021.
Tsitsipas won 81% of his first serve points to improve his head-to-head record to 4-0 against Sonego.
Tsitsipas earned his first break at deuce in the seventh game of the first set to 4-3 lead. Sonego broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Sonego went up a 3-0 lead in the tie-break. Tsitsipas pulled back on serve to draw level to 3-3. Tsitsipas won five of his next points to win the tie-break 7-4.
Both players went on serve until the ninth game when Tsitsipas earned the first break to take a 5-3 lead. The world number 11 player sealed the win on his first match point.
“It was not an easy first-round match. There was some trouble in the tie-break. But it was great towards the end. I felt that 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 came out in that moment. I was not backing down and that was something I was pleased with. I am happy with how things turned out. The second set felt like the better set. I just went for my shots and they worked”, said Tsitsipas.
The Greek player set up a second round match against Karen Khachanov, who cruised past Daniel Evans 6-1 6-3 to stop a three-match losing streak. Khachanov is making his ninth appearance in Dubai. He achieved his best result at this tournament in 2020, when he reached the quarter final.
Khachanov broke three times to win the first set 6-1. The Russian player broke in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Evans broke straight back in the third game and held serve at 15 to draw level to 2-2. Khachanov broke for the second time to win the second set 6-3.
Giovanni Mpetchi Perricard beat Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in 89 minutes to set up a second round match against eithe Danil Medvedev or Jan-Lennard Struff.
Mpetchi Perricard, who won his first ATP 500 title in Basel last October, broke serve in the fourth game to win the first set 6-3. The Frenchman saved two set points at 5-6 in the second set en route to the tie-break. He earned two mini-breaks to race out to a 4-0 lead and sealed the tie-break on his third match point.
