Novak Djokovic, four-time former champion at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, cruised into the second round of the 2016 tournament edition on Monday with a 6-1, 6-2 win over world no.41 Tommy Robredo of Spain.
The top-seeded Serb broke Robredo’s serve twice in each of the sets, having denied his opponent a single break point opportunity during the 66-minute clash.
“Playing my first match in three weeks, different conditions, I didn’t know how I would start, whether or not I would execute the game plan as I prepared myself to,” said Djokovic. “But everything went well. Very few things went wrong. I was putting constant pressure on his serve. I returned very, very well. Served solid and was aggressive from the back of the court. I cannot be happier with this performance.”
Match statistics: aces (6-2), double faults (1-3), total points won (66-41).
For a place in the quarter-final, Novak will play against Malek Jaziri of Tunisia who beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-1. It will be their first career meeting.
The 500 tournament is Nole’s first ATP World Tour event since winning his sixth Australian Open crown three weeks ago. He was victorious in Dubai in 2009-2011 and 2013.
Photo: AP
