DUBAI — Tomas Berdych advanced to the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships by beating Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-4 Tuesday.
“A first match, playing outside after a while, it’s a good test,” Berdych said. “Don’t make it more complicated than needed.”
The seventh-ranked Berdych is a two-time finalist in Dubai, in 2013 and ‘14. He’s reached at least the semifinals four of the last five years.
Also, eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany defeated wild-card entry Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 6-1, 7-5; Borna Coric of Croatia beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4; Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain beat Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-2, 6-4; Thomas Fabbiano of Italy defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-3, 6-4; and Franko Skugor of Croatia downed Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-2, 6-3.
Nishikori cruises
In Acapulco, Mexico, Kei Nishikori cruised to victory in his opening match in Acapulco Monday, defeating Thiemo de Bakker 6-0, 6-3 in less than an hour.
The second-seeded Nishikori was sharp in his first match since capturing his fourth Memphis Open title a week ago, breaking his Dutch opponent six times and fending off the only break point he faced.
Also Monday, 35-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic continued his strong form of late, beating Mexican wild card Lucas Gomez 6-4, 6-2. Estrella Burgos is coming off a defense of his title in Quito two weeks ago.
On the women’s side, Britain’s Johanna Konta, an Australian Open semifinalist, rallied to beat Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and third-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova advanced when Urszula Radwanska retired while trailing 0-6, 3-2. – Agencies
