Top seed Novak Djokovic struggled in his first-round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships but had no trouble a day later, defeating Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates.
Djokovic used four service breaks and cashed in on 91 percent of his first service points (20 of 22) to win in just 82 minutes and advance to the quarterfinals. The 35-year-old Serbian is a five-time winner of the ATP 500 tournament. He’ll next face No. 5 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.
Also advancing was No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev, who ousted Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-2. After wins in Doha and Rotterdam, Medvedev is seeking his third straight tournament victory. Next up for the Russian is No. 8 seed Borna Coric of Croatia, who topped Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia in three sets.
The third quarterfinal will feature No. 7 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, the defending champion, against Lorenzo Sonego. The Italian knocked out No. 4 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 7-6 (4), 6-4.
And advancing to the final quarterfinal were No. 2 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia and Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, who each needed three sets to move on. Rublev took out Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, while van de Zandschulp defeated Mikael Ymer of Sweden.
–Field Level Media