Dubai, United Arab Emirates (SportsNetwork.com) – Multiple champion Novak
Djokovic and former runner-up Andy Murray were a pair of second-round winners
Wednesday at the $2 million Dubai Tennis Championships.
The world No. 1 Djokovic drubbed Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev 6-1, 6-2, while
the third-seeded Murray mauled Portuguese Joao Sousa 6-0, 6-2 at this
lucrative hardcourt event.
The Wimbledon champion Djokovic beat Murray in last month’s Australian Open
final.
Djokovic is a four-time champion in Dubai, winning three straight titles here
from 2009-11 and prevailing again in 2013. Murray was the runner-up here in
2012.
Fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych captured his 500th career match victory by holding
off Italian Simone Bolelli 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 6-0. Berdych lost in the previous
two Dubai finals, including last year against six-time champ Roger Federer.
Meanwhile, former top-10 Frenchman Richard Gasquet derailed seventh-seeded
Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6).
Additional second-round results saw Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky best
Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and rising Croatian teenager Borna
Coric get past former Aussie Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 3-6, 6-6, as
“Baggy” retired before the start of the third-set tiebreak.
This year’s Dubai champ will earn $505,000.
