The top seed Daniil Medvedev made a winning start in Dubai. The2023Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships winner faced Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round and earned a 6-4, 7-6triumph in an hour and 44 minutes.
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Daniil retiredagainst Felix Auger-Aliassime last week due to food poisoning. He recovered and produced another fine performance against the German. The top seed took nine points more than his rival and fought well despite serving at 55%!
Medvedev dropped 20 points in 11 service games and denied all four break points to keep the pressure on the other side. Jan-Lennard struggled behind the second serve and played against ten break chances.
He denied nine and battled nicely before falling in the tie break of the second set. Daniil tamed his strokes nicely and laded 25 winners and 21 unforced errors. Struff hit 27 direct points and sprayed 44 mistakes, struggling big time from the baseline.
They hit the same number of service winners, while Daniil claimed 30 points more from the baseline! Jan-Lennard could not do much in the most common exchanges.His good resistance came after taking almost 30 points at the net in comparison to Medvedev's two!
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Struffl squandered a game point in the third game of the match and faced a break point after Medvedev's forehand down the line winner. The Russian landed another forehand winner followinga thrilling exchange and secured an early advantage.
World no. 6 saved a break point in the fourth game with an ace and generated three opportunities on the return in the next one. The German denied them and brought the game home to remain within one break deficit.
Jan-Lennard denied another break point in game game and held after a deuce two games later to reduce the deficit to 5-4. Struff made a push on the return and landed a winner at the net to create two break points. Daniil saved them with powerful serves.
He faced the third break point and erased it with another booming initial shot. World no. 6 converted a set point with an unreturned serve, moving 6-4 up after 45 minutes. The opening gameof the second set lasted 11 minutes.
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Jan-Lennard denied three break points and many deuces to bring the game home and avoid an early setback. Daniil produced two fine holds and stepped in on the return at 2-2. The Russian painted a backhand down the line return winner for two break chances.
Struff saved them with fine hitting and remained on the positive side. Those were the last chances for the returners, as they produced seven comfortable holds and introduced a tie break. Medvedev drew the rival's mistake in the first point for a mini-break.
The Russian landed two service winners for 3-0 and landed a backhand winner in the fourth point to extend the advantage. Jan-Lennard missed a volley in the fifth point, experiencing another mini-break and falling 5-0 behind.
Daniil generated five match points with a service winner at 5-1. Struff denied three and reduced the gap to 6-4. Medvedev converted the fourth match point with a forehand winner, sealing the deal and moving into the last 16.
