DUBAI: The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships served up some Centre Court thrillers on Tuesday, as Stefanos Tsitsipas and Benoit Paire overcame challenging opponents and Fabio Fognini and Roberto Bautista Agut failed to survive the first round.
Second seed Tsitsipas came through a difficult first set before beating Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (1) 6-1 and Paire fought off four match points as he defeated Marin Cilic 2-6 7-5 7-6 (1). Fourth seed Fabio Fognini was beaten 3-6 6-4 7-5 by Daniel Evans, and fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut fell 7-6 (2) 7-5 against Jan-Lennard Struff.
Tsitsipas had recently arrived from playing indoors in Marseille, where he won the title for the second straight year. He found the schedule challenging and, despite a great start, he struggled to retain control of the match.
“Yeah, I was tired. I came in the match tired,” Tsitsipas said. “I was upset with myself a little bit when I was 3-Love, 40-Love up and didn’t get the break. I realised I have to save that energy because the heat and it was difficult for me in the physical part.
“I tried to stay calm and not complain too much because I would definitely need that energy for later on in the match. I think I focused on my breathing, focused on constructing the points, staying in the point, trying to make things happen from my backhand side because that’s what I felt he played most of the time. Eventually I found solutions and started being more aggressive with my backhand.”
Evans struggled not only to recover from being down a set and 3-1 against Fognini, but from twice being a break down in the final set and then needing a nervous six match points to break serve at 6-5 and close out the match.
“It’s difficult to play Fabio. He’s such a class player,” said Evans, who last week reached a career-high ranking of 31. “Just happy to come through really. It was a good battle. I didn’t actually get to play my game too much, but it was good. Yeah, felt like he was on top forever really. Yeah, just hanging in. Good part of my game is hanging in, just staying in the match really. Points for double break in the second set, just stuck it out. It’s tough to play him.”
In the day’s first match on Centre Court, Cilic served for victory at 5-3 in the second set and held two match points, but Paire responded by winning the next four games and the set. Cilic then held two more match points at 6-5 in the third set, each of which Paire saved with an ace before he went on to dominate the tiebreak.
“Yeah, it was not easy today,” said Paire, who began the season by reaching the Auckland final. “I lost five times in a row against Marin. I was not confident before the match. But really happy about the win. It was not easy today. I was not feeling really good on court. Little bit sick two, three days. Really happy to win today and to fight until the end. Normally when it’s one set, 5-3, I normally tank (give up). This time I tried until the end. It was good working. Really happy about the win.
“For me mentally it was not easy to serve at 6-5 because I lost three matches this year at 7-6 in the third (in the fifth set in Melbourne). Even if you do 6-All, you going to lose. Why to fight until the end? This time I say, ‘Okay, I try’.”
Bautista Agut had made a great start to the season by winning his first eight matches as he helped Spain to the ATP Cup final. He had also never come close to dropping a set against Struff in their three previous meetings. But Struff played an aggressive and near flawless match to extinguish Bautista Agut’s hopes of regaining the trophy he won in 2018.
There were also victories for Filip Krajinovic who defeated Joao Sousa 4-6 6-3 6-3, and Alexander Bublik who beat Hubert Hurzkacz 6-2 7-5. Pierre-Hugues Herbert defeated Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5 6-2 and Nikoloz Basilashvili edged past Ricardas Berankis 5-7 7-6 (2) 6-3. Two qualifiers reached the second round as Dennis Novak defeated Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-4 6-3 and Yasutaka Uchiyama beat Yen-Hsun Lu 3-6 6-1 6-2.
“We have watched four thrilling matches on the Centre Court today, and the skill that all eight players showed was remarkable,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free. “Such is the strength of the field here this week that already we have seen that no player can be assured of victory, no matter what their position and reputation.”
Tournament Director Salah Tahlak added, “Tennis fans have been entertained once more with a number of very close matches today, with two seeds falling by the wayside, and there will no doubt be many more upsets and close contests before we crown the 2020 champion.” The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and held under the patronage of H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The tournament continues until 29th February with world number one and Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, ATP Finals and recent Marseille winner Stefanos Tsitsipas, and 2020 Rotterdam and Montpellier champion Gael Monfils.
