Second seed Thomaz Bellucci will open his campaign in Sao Paulo against lucky loser Roberto Carballes Baena. The 22-year-old Tenerife native made the most of his second chance at a main draw spot, beating Taro Daniel 6-2, 7-6(4) at the Brasil Open on Monday.

Carballes Baena’s compatriot, fellow Spaniard Daniel Munoz de la Nava, saved nine of the 11 break points he faced to beat Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in two hours and 23 minutes. One of three 34 year olds in the draw (also Paolo Lorenzi, Paul-Henri Mathieu), Munoz de la Nava awaits the winner of seventh seed Nicolas Almagro and Brazilian wild card Thiago Monteiro.

Making it a clean sweep for Spain, Daniel Gimeno-Traver bounced back to deny Brazilian wild card Guilherme Clezar 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Gimeno-Traver hit nine aces and won six of 13 break points on his way past his 23-year-old opponent.

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.