Top seed Novak Djokovic has opened his defense of his Dubai Championships title with a straight sets victory over Denis Istomin, downing the hard-hitting Uzbek 6-3, 6-3.
Djokovic saved all four break points he faced on serve, as well as breaking Istomin three times.
The match is Djokovic's first in over a month.
"Obviously not having played an official match for more than four or five weeks, taken its toll, I do feel it on the court, a bit rusty in my movements but, look you know, the first match is a tough draw to play against a player who is very solid from the back of the court and you know he can serve big, he's a big guy so it was a tough one. But I managed to overcome it, I managed to play the good tennis at the important moment."
In other action from Dubai...
Second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro has been force to retire from the tournament with a wrist injury.
Third-seeded Tomas Berdych has extended his winning streak to eight matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Romanian qualifier Marius Copil.
