Wawrinka Back From The Brink In Dubai

Stan Wawrinka was on the verge of a third first-round defeat in three visits to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday evening, but held on for a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky.

The Swiss was two points from defeat as he trailed 4-5, 0/30 on serve in the deciding set. But he reeled off four straight points to hold serve before immediately breaking Stakhovsky. Wawrinka served out the hard-fought victory to love in just over two hours. Last week in Marseille, Wawrinka saved two match points as he edged Stakhovsky in a third set tie-break.

“It’s good for my confidence but it was a tough first match,” said Wawrinka. “I was hesitating, always being behind, staying aggressive. And it’s tough to play especially against Stakhovsky, who doesn’t give you too much rhythm.

“But it’s a great win for me. Not playing well, still winning, still fighting, still finding a way. I was playing a little bit better at the end, trying to be the aggressive player on the court. It’s good to have a chance to play better tomorrow.”

The 30-year-old Wawrinka is playing at this ATP World Tour 500 tournament for the first time since 2008. The right-hander captured his 12^th tour-level title at the start of the season in Chennai (d. Coric) and has a 9-2 record in 2016.

Doubles: Rojer/Tecau Win Opener

Top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau reached the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Viktor Troicki. The Dutch/Romanian duo, who finished as the year-end top team last season, are chasing their first title of 2016 this week.

Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez opened their title bid with a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt. Lopez and Lopez were victorious in the first week of the season, beating Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya in the Doha final.

Hyeon Chung and Jiri Vesely sprung a surprise as they upset third seeds Vasek Pospisil and Nenad Zimonjic, 6-4, 6-4.