Another seed has fallen at the ATP Dubai Open. Eighth seeded Daniil Medvedev has become the latest casualty at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as he went down to Ricardas Berankis on Tuesday.
The Russian, who had come into the Dubai Open on the back of some sterling performances, was a surprising 6-3, 6-3 loser to Berankis, joining the pair of Karen Khachanov and Milos Raonic on the sidelines.
Medvedev never got into rhythm, and was broken twice in the first set itself. The match began with a break of serve for Berankis who then closed it out with another break in the final game of that set to claim it 6-3.
As if to prove this was no fluke, Berankis came harder at Medvedev in the second set, turning the score from 1-1 to 5-1 with two successive breaks of serve. The Russian showed some resolve towards the end with one break back but that was all he would get as Berankis served out the match to win it in straight sets.
Berankis, who had to win a couple of qualifers to get to the main draw of the Dubai Open, will now take on Denis Kudla, who overcame the loss of the first set to defeat Matteo Berrettini in another first round match. Kudla won 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 to set up a meeting with Berankis.
Yesterday, Nikolaz Basilashvili had defeated fourth seeded Khachanov in straight sets much like the Medvedev loss. Basilashvili won 6-4, 6-1 to set up a meeting with Roberto Bautista-Agut.
Raonic put up a more sterling fight before Jan-Lennard Struff overcame him in three sets to enter the second round. Struff will now play Marton Fucsovics who defeated Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 7-6 to make it to round two.
In some of the matches later today, Marin Cilic will take on Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori will be up against Benoit Paire, Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Matthew Ebden, while Tomas Berdych plays Ilya Ivashka in their respective opening round matches.
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