DUBAI — Roger Federer came from a set down to beat Tunisian wild-card entry Malek Jaziri Tuesday at the Dubai Championships, advancing to the second round with a 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 win. The second-ranked Federer, looking for his sixth title in Dubai, said earlier he expected a "tricky" encounter in his first meeting with the 128th-ranked Jaziri. He was proven right in the first set, as the Tunisian broke Federer to go up 6-5 and closed it out with a backhand down the line. But Federer dominated after that. He raced through the second set in 23 minutes and twice broke Malek in the decider. Federer faces the winner of the match between Albert Montanes and Marcel Granollers. On a relatively low-key opening day, seventh seed Andreas Seppi beat Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 7-5 and Russian eighth seed Mikhail Youzhny overcame Slovenia's Blaz Kavcic 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. In other first-round matches: Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic beat Matteo Viola of Italy 6-3, 7-5; Daniel Brands of Germany beat Florent Serra of France 7-6(7), 6-4; and Roberto Bautista of Spain beat David Goffin of Belgium 6-2, 7-5. Top seed Novak Djokovic was in action on day one with his brother Marko but their doubles adventure ended in round one. They were beaten 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 by Nikolay Davydenko and Dick Norman. Djokovic's first tournament since his successful defense of the Australian Open title offers him a chance to show why he could remain the world No. 1 for the forseeable future. The 25-year-old Serbian's triumph in Melbourne saw him avenge a defeat in the US Open final to his most contemporary rival, Andy Murray, making him an even stronger favorite to win back the title at the Dubai Open. To do that Djokovic will probably need to overcome the man who took it away from him — Roger Federer, the world No. 2, who has a home in Dubai, often plays well here, and has won the title five times. Even if Federer were to triumph for a sixth time, it is hard to see him making up his 3,000-point gap with Djokovic because he has settled on a more limited schedule to preserve himself in his 32nd year. Neither Murray, nor Rafael Nadal, whose future remains uncertain, are competing in Dubai this year, which means a continuation of the Djokovic-Federer rivalry, which shows a 16-13 head-to-head in favor of the older man, is the most likely scenario. Djokovic has appeared very relaxed in Dubai, swimming with turtles while not training, but he could have a dangerous semifinal with Juan Martin Del Potro, the former US Open champion from Argentina. Del Potro arrived late, having flown from the Marseille Open, and will have a far-from-easy start against Marcos Baghdatis, the former Australian Open finalist. — Agencies
