David Goffin’s Abierto Mexicano Telcel campaign is off to a blistering start with the Belgian easily accounting for Stephane Robert on Monday night. The fifth seed needed just 54 minutes to post a 6-1, 6-2 result to progress to the second round.

The World No. 11 in the Emirates ATP Rankings sent down six aces and never faced a break point in the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. With two finals already under his belt this season in Sofia and Rotterdam, Goffin will face either Kyle Edmund or Sam Querrey for his first Acapulco quarter-final berth.

In an all-American affair Steve Johnson upset eighth seed John Isner in little more than an hour. Johnson broke his big-serving countryman twice in the 6-4, 6-4 result to book a second-round clash with the winner of #NextGenATP players Ernesto Escobedo and Stefan Kozlov. Johnson’s win over Isner drew the pair level on 4-4 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

Earlier, another #NextGenATP star Borna Coric had few difficulties seeing off local wild card Lucas Gomez. The Croatian won 91 per cent of his first-serve points to post a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Countryman and third seed Marin Cilic or Alexandr Dolgopolov will be next.

He hasn’t played a match yet, but Novak Djokovic is already happy that he chose to play at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, where he’s making his debut this week.

On Sunday evening, hundreds of fans came to watch Djokovic practise on Cacha Central, the tournament’s centre court. The fans greeted him with a screaming ovation as he entered the stadium and cheered throughout his practice. Djokovic, who’s been a pro for 14 years, said he hasn’t experienced such a night too often in his career.

“I want to thank all the people who came to welcome me and to watch the practice session and to give me this amazing energy that I felt on the court,” he said during his pre-tournament press conference. “I am trying to feed off that energy and obviously play the best tennis that I can possibly play this week and hopefully have a good tournament.”

The 29-year-old right-hander is making his debut in Mexico. He accepted a wild card into the ATP World Tour 500 event last week. The Serbian will have to bring some of his best tennis if he plans on a perfect debut.

The Acapulco field features four Top 10 players, including No. 6 Rafael Nadal, No. 8 Marin Cilic and No. 9 Dominic Thiem. No. 11 David Goffin, No. 17 Nick Kyrgios, No. 18 Jack Sock, and No. 22 John Isner round out the top eight seeds.

“It’s very impressive. It’s going to be a hard tournament,” said Djokovic, who greeted the press corps with un poquito de español, “Buenos días a todos,” or “Good morning, everyone.”

The Belgrade native is returning to tournament action for the first time since falling to Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in five sets during the second round of the Australian Open. The setback was the right-hander’s earliest Melbourne exit since 2006, when he was ranked No. 76 and fell to American Paul Goldstein.

“I haven’t experienced the first-week Australian Open loss for many years,” said Djokovic, who has won the Grand Slam six times. “But… it’s kind of normal and expected to go through those times when you’re not playing as best as you can maybe, as best as you want to be, or maybe the opponent has an amazing day. It’s sport. You have to deal with it, and you can always learn much more from the losses.”

Per Djokovic’s high standards, the World No. 2 has struggled during the past seven months. He’s won only two titles during that span – Rogers Cup, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, in July; and the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha last month when he knocked off World No. 1 Andy Murray.

In Acapulco, Djokovic will try to return to his form of 12 months ago, when he experienced one of the best stretches of his career. The Serbian won the Australian Open, the March Masters – Indian Wells and Miami – and then didn’t miss a step on the European clay, taking the Mutua Madrid Open and Roland Garros to complete his career Grand Slam.

Read More: Federer, Monfils Roll In Dubai Openers

“All in all, I feel that I’m in a much better state of mind than maybe I was at the end of last year. So I keep on going. I love this sport. That’s why I’m playing it. That’s why I’m here. I’m just hoping that I can stay healthy and as dedicated as best as I can be,” he said.

Despite his early loss Down Under, Djokovic still followed the remainder of the Australian Open. He, like millions of tennis fans around the world, was excited to see his friends and rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal fight in the final.

“It was amazing to see… Roger win the Australian Open, at his age, after injury and after being absent for so long. It’s quite impressive. I congratulate him for that. He never ceases to impress everybody, and it was great to see a Federer-Nadal final,” Djokovic said. “I think it’s very important for the sport of tennis that these two guys are back in Grand Slam finals, winning trophies, because they are the icons of tennis. They have contributed so much to the popularity of the sport worldwide.”

Argentine Renzo Olivo booked himself a second-round match-up with fourth seed Joao Sousa on Monday at the Brasil Open. Olivo beat 2016 semi-finalist Inigo Cervantes of Spain 7-6(6), 6-4 in one hour and 53 minutes.

Olivo saved 12 of 16 break points and landed 70 per cent of his first serves to win his Sao Paulo debut. The 24-year-old Olivo, No. 92 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will face Sousa for the first time.

Olivo’s countryman Guido Pella also advanced, hitting 10 aces to prevail against Brazilian wild card Guilherme Clezar 6-2, 6-3. In doubles, second seeds Julio Peraltz and Horacio Zeballos won almost 70 per cent of their service points to beat Andres Molteni and Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-3. Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini also moved into the quarter-finals, squeaking past Argentines Federico Delbonis and Maximo Gonzalez 3-6, 6-1, 10-8.

Alexander Bublik fought past Nicolas Jarry 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday to claim his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title at the Morelos Open. The 19 year old became the youngest winner on the circuit this year and third #NextGenATP star to lift a trophy, joining Hyeon Chung (Maui) and Noah Rubin (Launceston).

Bublik’s march to the title caps an impressive rise to the Top 150 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, ascending to a career-high World No. 137. Just four months ago, the Kazakh was sitting outside the Top 300, but a quarter-final result at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow – his first ATP World Tour main draw – and a run to the second round as a qualifier at the Australian Open, set the stage for his biggest professional title on the hard courts of Morelos.

ATPWorldTour.com spoke to Bublik after his victory:

What was it like to win your first title?
It was a big win. The first title always means a lot. I’m very happy. It gives me a lot of confidence and I’m close to the Top 100 now, but I still need to keep working hard.

In the final, you needed five match points to serve it out. Take us through that and how you finally managed to get it done.
He (Jarry) was playing unbelievable. He passed me twice with incredible shots. I got a little nervous. I was struggling to get there and I said to myself that I needed to win it. I got a first serve and it was over.

You were feeding off the energy from the crowd all week. How did you use that to your advantage?
I was struggling at times and they helped me a lot. They loved me there since the first day, since my first match. They definitely helped me. That’s the thing about tennis. When you have a big crowd, I’m in love with it.

You haven’t played many Challenger events. This was just your 10th main draw and first final. How have you made the transition look so easy?
It’s really not. When I played my first Challenger last year in Kazan, I got past the first round and I thought it was a big first step forward. Then I won a couple of Futures titles and I went back to Challengers and I got some more wins, reaching my first quarter-final. I wasn’t rising very fast. I took little steps closer and closer and had a big experience [at the ATP World Tour event] in Moscow at the end of the year.

Having reached the quarter-finals as a qualifier at the VTB Kremlin Cup in October, did that experience give you a boost entering the 2017 season?
Moscow really helped me a lot. That was a big push for me, because I’ve been working hard for a while. At the same time the year before, I was playing qualies at a Futures event. I worked a lot for it and it showed me that I could compete with these guys. Then I had a great run at the Aussie Open (qualifying and reaching the second round) and I really believed it. This Challenger gave me the confidence that I can not only play well, but win a tournament.

Did you do anything different in the offseason to prepare you for your first full season on tour?
We worked on several things in the pre-season here in Delray Beach. We worked a lot on the physical part because I’m a big guy. That is, building up my strength with my serve. We also changed the way I train, which helped me a lot. Training in Delray is the best. I’ve been in America since I was 12 years old, living in San Francisco, so I love it here.

You are up to No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan. What would it mean for you to qualify?
That’s one of the main goals for me this season to qualify. It sounds like a great event and it will be very interesting to play there. I hope to stay healthy so I can make it.

ICYMI – #NextGenATP star @AlexanderBublik claims his first #ATPChallenger title with a splash, soaring to victory in Morelos, Mexico. pic.twitter.com/Adm4qfVGUX

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 26, 2017

Philipp Kohlschreiber moved to within two match wins of the 400th victory of his career on Monday by beating eighth seed and last month’s Apia International Sydney titlist Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-6(1) in 88 minutes at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. “Hopefully I can achieve the mark here in this tournament,” said Kohlschreiber, who now has 398 match wins. “It would be great [and] mean I’m in the semi-finals.” He will next face #NextGenATP Daniil Medvedev or wild card Omar Alawadhi.

Marcel Granollers lost just three of his first service points in beat Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-2 in 77 minutes for a second-round clash against second seed and defending champion Stan Wawrinka or Damir Dzumhur.

Third seed and seven-time former winner Roger Federer and Gael Monfils compete at the Aviation Club in Dubai, venue of the ATP World Tour 500 tournament, later today. The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is celebrating its 25th edition this year.

Denis Istomin, Evgeny Donskoy, Marius Copil and Lukas Rosol all booked their spots in the main draw as a result of winning through the final qualifying round.

Watch Full Match Replays

Doubles Seeds Safely Through To QFs

Top seeds and ATP Finals titlist Henri Kontinen and John Peers lost just two of their service points in cruising past Alawadhi and Amirvala Madanchi 6-1, 6-1 in 37 minutes for a place in the quarter-finals. Fourth seeds and 2015 semi-finalist Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau overcame Mate Pavic and Alexander Peya 7-6(2), 6-1 in 64 minutes.