Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2016: ATP Scores and Results from Monday
Novak Djokovic got his Dubai Duty Free Championships campaign off to a thunderous start on Monday after he stormed to a 6-1, 6-2 straight-sets victory over Tommy Robredo.
The world No. 1 is searching for his fifth career triumph in Dubai and got his competition underway by clinching revenge for the loss he suffered at Robredo's hands in the 2014 Cincinnati Masters.
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Djokovic last won the Dubai Duty Free Championships in 2014 and is also looking to make up for last year's runner-up finish to Roger Federer, who is unfortunately unable to defend his title this time around.
Earlier in the day, Feliciano Lopez made it into the second round, as did Vasek Pospisil, Malek Jaziri, Chung Hyeon and Marcos Baghdatis, who dusted off the challenge of Viktor Troicki in the evening fixture.
Read on as we provide a breakdown of all Monday's results and the latest scores from the Aviation Club Tennis Centre.
| Hyeon Chung | 6-3, 6-4 | Andreas Seppi |
| Malek Jaziri | 6-4, 6-1 | Mikhail Youzhny |
| Feliciano Lopez | 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 | Guillermo Garcia-Lopez |
| Vasek Pospisil | 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 | Lucas Pouille |
| Novak Djokovic | 6-1, 6-2 | Tommy Robredo |
| Marcos Baghdatis | 7-6(2), 6-2 | Viktor Troicki |
Recap
Day 1 of this year's championship had a hint of elite prestige to it thanks to top seed Djokovic, who ripped through Robredo in little more than an hour to book his place in the next stage of the contest.
That wasn't due to any lack of fire from Robredo, however, as Tennis TV showed the 33-year-old had his share of tricks to duel with Djokovic, but long rallies between the two proved few and far between:
Robredo dropped serve twice in the first set, despite saving four break points in one of those games, while Djokovic barely looked to be breaking a sweat as he served out the second set in similarly one-sided fashion.
Per the official ATP World Tour website, Robredo won just 11 percent of first-serve return points, winning a total of two second-set points on Djokovic's serve. In his first appearance since triumphing at the Australian Open, Djokovic made his work short and sweet, much to the entertainment of USA Today's Joe Fleming:
But as Djokovic lived up to expectations, Troicki was the first shock casualty of the first round after the No. 5 seed fell to a 7-6(2), 6-2 defeat at the hands of 30-year-old Baghdatis.
Tennis writer Ricky Dimon captured footage of Troicki venting his frustrations following such a damaging loss at the very first hurdle of the Dubai duel:
The first set was agonisingly close, and Baghdatis prevailed despite registering 26 unforced errors, twice as many as his opponent, before boosting his standards in the second set to make for much smoother sailing.
Lopez and Pospisil had to work considerably harder for victories over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Lucas Pouille, respectively, both needing three sets to book their first wins of the tournament.
Lopez defeated Spanish countryman Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 on Monday and overcame a mid-match lull to finish strong in front of the Dubai audience, recording 16 aces to his opponent's three.
Pospisil's 31-game slugfest with Frenchman Pouille proved even closer, and it was the Canadian who just about came out on top in what proved to be a closer affair than might have been tipped.
Writer Stephanie Myles hailed the 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 triumph as a valuable one for Pospisil, citing his serve defence as a particular bright patch:
Tunisia's Jaziri and Chung of South Korea also made it through thanks to wins over Mikhail Youzhny and Andreas Seppi, respectively, both of which came by straight sets.
The dark-horse journey may be over for Jaziri before it's even had a chance to get going, however, as he prepares to take on Djokovic in the second round of the 2016 Dubai Duty Free Championships.
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