McDonald sends holder Karatsev packing as Rublev and Sinner advance into second round

Amir Naqvi, Sports Editor

Aslan Karatsev’s title defence ended in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after the Russian was knocked out by Mackenzie McDonald at Centre Court on Tuesday.

McDonald took one hour and 38 minutes to beat the seventh seed, 7-5, 6-3. Karatsev and World No.61 from America tried their best to dominate the dramatic first set first, which went to deuce seven times. The American earned a crucial break for a 6-5 lead and later served out the opener.

McDonald raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set. Karatsev tried to make a comeback and broke his rival to make it 4-3. The World No.22 was broken again while serving to stay in the match, and the break was enough for McDonald to win the match.

He will meet Filip Krajinovic, who defeated Tunisian qualifier Malek Jaziri on Monday.

Fourth seed Jannik Sinner battled back from the verge of ouster to advance into the second round.

The World No.10 from Italy was forced to save three match points to overcome Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s challenge 4-6 7-6 6-3 in a draining two hours 31 minutes.

Spain’s Davidovich Fokina took the first after breaking Sinner in the 10th game of the first set. The World No.43 quickly established a 6-3 lead in the second. Shifting gears, the Italian bounced back while reeling off five points in a row to force a third set.

Sinner broke Davidovich Fokina once in the decider to secure a spot in the next round. Sinner will now face former World No.1 Andy Murray in the second round.

“It was a very tough match and I just tried to stay focused as he was one point away from the victory. In the third set I felt more comfortable, and I raised the level,” said Sinner, who became the youngest Italian to crack the top 10 in the ATP Rankings.

Murray, who won the Dubai title in 2017, had beaten Sinner in their only previous meeting, which took place in Stockholm in November last year.

“I lost the last one in Stockholm. It’s going to be very difficult for me. Everyone knows Andy (Murray) is a big player.

“Obviously, he’s a big fighter. It’s going to be tough. I am expecting a very tough match tomorrow, so I will try to be ready for a long match,” added Sinner.

Second seed Andrey Rublev started his campaign with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Daniel Evans. The World No.7 from Russia sealed a Marseille Open double on Sunday as he lifted the doubles trophy with Ukrainian Denys Molchanov just hours after winning the singles title.

He converted his seventh match point to beat Evans in 96 minutes. The 24-year-old said he arrived in Dubai at 2 am on the day of his match against Evans, leaving him with very little confidence.

“I was thinking I had no chance,” Rublev said in his post-match conference. “I’m super happy (with the win) because I didn’t expect this.”

“I did a really long, really long, long warmup today. I think during the day I practise for like an hour and a half, which is not usual, just to try to adapt as much as I can. I stayed focused. I didn’t start really fast, but in the end, I think somehow the match was quite good.”

Rublev will next face South Korean Kwon Soon-woo, who registered a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over Ilya Ivashka.

Rublev leads the head-to-head against Kwon 1-0, having won their sole meeting at the 2022 Rotterdam Open 6-3, 6-3 just a couple of weeks ago.

“We have once again enjoyed great drama at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free.

“Many matches are closely fought and we have witnessed some outstanding battles which have swung first with one player and then the other. We can anticipate more such matches in the days ahead and look forward to finding out who will progress to the final.”