Dubai Open 2023: Novak Djokovic defeats Tomas Machac

The world's top-ranked player, Novak Djokovic, battled through Tomas Machac in an intense first-round encounter at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday after facing a scare. On his first outing since winning the Australian Open, Djokovic won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 in the final set tie-break to pick up his 13th victory of the season (7-1). With 28 unforced errors compared to his opponent's 17, Djokovic shown some rust, and during an unusually lopsided second set, he took some of Machac's best shots. Yet in the end, he was victorious. Thomas didn't play like he was ranked 130th in the world today, according to Djokovic.He deserves a standing ovation for his outstanding tennis performance. Daniil Medvedev easily defeated Italian fortunate loser Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the second round, extending his winning streak to 10 games. The No. 7 player in the world will next face Alexander Bublik. World No. 46 Bublik won when Alexandar Lazarov of Bulgaria withdrew with a 1-6, 1-0 deficit. In his first round here, Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated American Maxime Cressy 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-3. Botic van de Zandschulp defeated Karen Khachanov, the sixth seed, 7-5, 6-2. As he triumphed 7-5, 6-2 on Monday, Andrei Rublev began his championship defence by ruining Filip Krajinovic's birthday.