Struff upsets Raonic in 1st round of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship

Speed Post News Network

Patna :  World No 7 in ATP rankings and 2nd seed Roger Federer, 37, Switzerland, entered the 2nd round of ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship at Dubai, UAE, on February 25, 2019, defeating World N0 31 Philipp Kohlschreiber, 35, Germany, in the first round. Federer beat Kohlschreiber in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in 1 hr 35 minutes.

Federer broke Kohlschreiber’s service 4 times in the match while the latter broke his service twice. Both the players won 3 games each in a row in the match. Federer fired 7 Aces in the match to 1 by Kohlschreiber. Kohlschreiber committed 4 double faults to 3 by Federer.

But, World No 54 Jan-Lenard Struff, 28, Germany, upset World No 14 Milos Raonic, 28, Canada, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the first round. Raonic though fired 15 Aces in the match to 7 by Struff. Raonic committed 4 double faults to 5 by Raonic. Struff broke Raonic’s serve twice in the match while the latter broke his service once.

World No 32 Fernando Verdasco, 35, Spain, beat qualifier and World No 85 Thomas Fabbiano, 29, Italy, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round. Verdasco fired 13 Aces in the match to 2 by Fabbiano. Ferdasco, however, committed 5 double faults to just 1 by Fabbiano. Verdasco broke Fabbiano’s service 5 times in the match while the latter broke his service thrice. Verdasco will face Federer in the Round of 16.

World No 19 Nikloz Basilashvili, 27, Georgia, beat World No 12 and 4th seed Karen Khachanoc, 22, Russia, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round. Basilashvili broke Khachano’s service thrice in the match besides winning 5 games in a row. Basilashvili fired 5 Aces in the match to 4 by Khachanov.