He’s spent the past three weeks relaxing with his family after capturing his 11th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, but Novak Djokovic picked up exactly where he left off as he returned to action with aplomb on Monday evening in Dubai.

The Serb advanced to the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in just 66 minutes, sweeping aside Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-2.

Djokovic surrendered just seven points on serve in the dominant display, breaking Robredo four times from 13 opportunities.

“Obviously playing my first match in three weeks, different conditions, I didn’t know how I would start, whether or not I would execute the game plan as I prepared myself to,” said Djokovic. “But everything went well. Very few things went wrong.

“I was putting constant pressure on his serve. I returned very, very well. Served solid and was aggressive from the back of the court. I cannot be happier with this performance.” 

The 28-year-old Djokovic is now just one win away from claiming his 700th career victory. The Belgrade native will face Malek Jaziri for that honour as he bids to reach the quarter-finals.

“Every milestone is very special, of course. I wish that I make the 700th win in this tournament, obviously,” said Djokovic. “But it’s not going to affect too much my preparation for the next match. It’s not going to change too much the way I approach the next match or this tournament. Of course I’ll be very pleased if it happens here.

“Jaziri told me he had a great off-season and it pays off. He won a couple of matches in Australia and here. Let’s see what happens. He plays quite different from Robredo. He’s standing closer to the line, he has flat shots and better serve. Got to be ready for it.”

Djokovic is a perfect 13-0 at the start of 2016, having triumphed in Doha (d. Nadal) before winning his sixth Australian Open trophy in Melbourne (d. Murray).

The right-hander is chasing his fifth title at this ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tournament in Dubai, where he lifted the trophy in 2009 (d. Ferrer), 2010 (d. Youzhny), 2011 (d. Federer) and 2013 (d. Berdych).

Canada’s Vasek Pospisil notched his second win of the season as he battled past Lucas Pouille 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes. The 25 year old goes on to face Marcos Baghdatis, who defeated Viktor Troicki 7-6(2), 6-2 in 90 minutes.

World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka enjoyed the ride of his life on Sunday as he visited the popular Dubai XLine ahead of his first-round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Wawrinka leaped 90 metres off the W1 Tower in Downtown Dubai and flew 558 metres over the Dubai Fountains, taking in the views of the iconic Burj Khalifa and Downtown area.

The 30-year-old Wawrinka is back at this ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tournament for the first time since 2008. The Swiss is chasing his second title of the year, after lifting the trophy in Chennai in the first week of the season.

Seeded second behind World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Wawrinka will open his Dubai title bid against Sergiy Stakhovsky on Tuesday.

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A true measure of greatness is how a player performs against Top 10 rivals in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Over the past 52 weeks, Novak Djokovic has been pre-eminent compiling a 33-5 record (.868) to lead the FedEx ATP Win-Loss Index.

Roger Federer (2015 Dubai, Cincinnati, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals), Stan Wawrinka (Roland Garros) and Andy Murray (Montreal) have registered wins against the Serbian, who is competing at this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. He has won titles at 13 of his past 17 finals and stands one title match from equalling Ivan Lendl‘s record of 18 straight in 1981-82.

“I think the biggest part of your mental strength is not just training, but what you do off the court, the way you lead your life, in a positive environment,” said 28-year-old Djokovic in Dubai. “I try to surround myself with positivity and encouragement in order to get that comfort and inner piece, when I need it in a match. The first player that breaks down, will likely lose. I was that player for some time, but I managed to learn and improved. When you reach it, you don’t have it forever. I do observe daily techniques in order to improve and maintain my mental strength.”

Djokovic is second only to Bjorn Borg in career performances against Top 10 opponents (since 1973). Borg went 63-27 (.700), while Djokovic is 163-80 (.671) and Federer is third placed at 198-104 (.656).

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Success on the ATP World Tour is attributed to playing consistently well on multiple surfaces as a result of physical fitness and mental prowess.

“He’s dominating tennis for sure, playing a different level,” said Stan Wawrinka in Dubai. “He’s No. 1 by far and has started the year the way he ended it last year. The year is long and I’m sure there will be some opportunities to beat him. He can play on every surface, so he will be tough to beat.”

Richard Gasquet says that members of the Top 10 are, “physically, mentally stronger and their tennis skills are more consistent. That is why they win a higher number of matches. The Rankings don’t lie.”

Federer has compiled a 15-7 (.682) record against Top 10 opponents over the past 52 weeks, while Murray is third place with a 12-10 (.545) mark.

Pablo Cuevas won his first ATP World Tour 500 title early Monday morning, dodging rain drops to defeat a dogged Guido Pella 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 in the final of the Rio Open presented by Claro.

Toppling Rafael Nadal seems to be the blueprint to winning a clay-court title in 2016, after Cuevas sprung the upset in Saturday’s semi-finals and Dominic Thiem did so en route to the Buenos Aires crown a week ago. It was the 30-year-old’s fourth ATP World Tour title overall and first since lifting the Sao Paulo trophy exactly one year ago. Cuevas, who became the first player in history to oust five straight left-handed opponents in clinching a tour-level title, takes home $303,300 in prize money and 500 Emirates ATP Rankings points.

A big opportunity awaited both players in the final, but the weather would not cooperate in the early stages. After letting two break points slip in the fourth game, Pella edged ahead at 3-3 30/0 when the skies closed above the Jockey Club Brasiliero. A three-and-a-half hour rain delay would ensue, leaving both players to reassess their strategies in the locker room.

Upon resumption of play, it was Cuevas who would draw first blood, showing great discipline from the baseline in snatching the first break for 5-4. He would close out the set a game later. Cuevas was ruthlessly efficient on serve throughout the encounter and even steadier when engaged in extended rallies from the back of the court. The second set would end in a tie-break, where the Uruguayan had the match on his racquet, serving with a 5-4 lead. But Pella would reel off three straight points to force a decider and send the match past midnight.

In the third set, they remained on serve until the 10th game, where Cuevas pounced, claiming victory on his first match point when a Pella forehand found the net. He fired 14 aces and 29 winners in total, converting two of three break chances to prevail after two hours and 15 minutes on court.

The battle of unseeded players was the first in a 500 level final since Valencia 2011, when Marcel Granollers beat Juan Monaco. With the win, World No. 45 Cuevas became the lowest-ranked champion at an ATP World Tour 500 event since 46th-ranked Leonardo Mayer won in Hamburg in 2014.

Pella, meanwhile, was bidding to claim his first ATP World Tour title in his first final. The Argentine, who saved three match points in his opening encounter against John Isner, vaults to a career-high Top 50 spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings despite the loss.