Roger Federer was worried he would be rusty when he stepped on the court for the first time in a month to begin his title defence in Dubai but the Swiss was anything but, crushing Mikhail Youzhny in less than an hour.
– INTERVIEW: Ernests Gulbis plots rise back to the top
– Roger Federer raring to rock Dubai once again
Dressed in a neon orange t-shirt and shorts with a sparkly gold stripe on each side, Federer lit up centre court which saw full grandstands for the first time this fortnight.
“I’m lucky enough to be put on prime time most of the time so people come out and watch me play often,” said Federer, who needed just 56 minutes to dismiss Youzhny 6-3, 6-1.
“I do appreciate that, because I must say it’s much easier getting excited and motivated for matches like this than being put on court 3 at 12:00 during the day when there is nobody going to come out because everybody’s working.
“So I appreciate that, and it’s definitely keeping me on the tour longer.”
.@rogerfederer opens bid for 7th #DDFTennis crown with 63 61 win over Youzhny. More: http://t.co/SV7A40s0jq #tennis pic.twitter.com/0HZa1KZHyI
— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) February 23, 2015
The Swiss, whose six Dubai titles make him the most successful player in the tournament’s 23-year history, did not face a single break point against Youzhny and fired eight aces that put him just 15 short of the 9,000 mark – a milestone only achieved by Goran Ivanisevic, Ivo Karlovic and Andy Roddick.
Federer went into the match with a dominat 15-0 record against his opponent.
And while 2015 has so far been the year where such winning records have been tarnished, with Tomas Berdych snapping a 17-match losing streak to Rafael Nadal in Melbourne in January and Gilles Simon ending his 12-match winless run against Andy Murray earlier this month in Rotterdam, Federer’s perfect sequence against Youzhny never looked in danger.
It appeared to be an even affair for the first six games before Federer switched gears, breaking twice in the seventh and ninth to quickly take a one-set lead in just 32 minutes.
Tomorrow’s Order of Play #DDFtennis pic.twitter.com/yedsCcpEGv
— Dubai Tennis Champs (@DDFTennis) February 23, 2015
Half an hour later, Federer fired down an ace to seal the Russian’s fate and book a second round with one of two Spaniards – Fernando Verdasco or Guillermo Garcia Lopez.
Earlier in the day, fifth-seeded Ernests Gulbis squandered a 4-1 lead in the first set to fall to Denis Istomin 7-5, 6-2. Gulbis has now lost seven matches in a row, his last victory coming in the Moscow quarter-finals last October.
The Latvian world No14, who shocked Federer to make the French Open semi-finals last year, admits he is struggling with his form and says he needs a couple of weeks of practice to make some much-needed changes.
“I’m not feeling my shots at all. I have no timing. In practice I have been playing worse than in the match,” Gulbis explained.
Gasquet gets the job done despite squandering 2 match points, beats Seppi 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4 to make Dubai second round
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) February 23, 2015
“Every player is different, but for me it’s very important to have the feeling of the racquet when I contact the ball, it’s a purely technical thing.
“If I have it, everything slowly starts to come together, the moving, the serve, everything.
“As soon as I lose the feeling of the contact, everything else collapses. That’s what’s been happening the last couple of tournaments. It’s very tough to change it during tournaments. I need to have two weeks of good practice, and then I can change something.”
Istomin, whose win was his first in a Dubai main draw, was aware of Gulbis’ poor record coming into their match but said he never underestimated the talented Latvian.
“Ernests can be losing [but] then he can beat anyone. You have to concentrate,” said the Uzbek world No65.
The last match of the day saw two-time Dubai semi-finalist Richard Gasquet squander two set points in the second set before recovering in the third to beat Seppi 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-4 in two hours and 21 minutes.
“It was very tough because I could have won in two sets. He played two big shots to save match points and then he took a lot of confidence after that, playing an incredible tiebreak,” said Gasquet, who is coming off a title win in Montpellier.
“I’m feeling great that I won. The condition is difficult, the ball is flying, the court was fast. It’s not the best conditions for me, but I’m trying to do my best.”
