Federer rolls in Dubai opener
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Dubai, United Arab Emirates (SportsNetwork.com) - Five-time champion Roger Federer was an easy opening-round winner Monday at the $1.928 million Dubai Tennis Championships.
The fourth-seeded former world No. 1 great handled German Benjamin Becker 6-1, 6-4 to improve to 38-5 lifetime on the hardcourts at Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Federer's second-round opponent on Wednesday will be Czech veteran Radek Stepanek or American journeyman Michael Russell.
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Meanwhile, seventh-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber drubbed Dutch qualifier Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-3 and eighth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov dropped Slovakian qualifier Lukas Lacko 7-5, 6-1.
In matches involving non-seeds, Italian Andreas Seppi overcame German Florian Mayer 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 and Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut leveled Romanian qualifier Adrian Ungur 6-1, 6-3.
This week's top seeds -- former No. 1 and reigning champion Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro and last year's runner-up Tomas Berdych -- will all take to the courts for first-round matches on Tuesday. Djokovic beat Berdych in last year's final to capture his fourth Dubai title in five years.
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Since 2003, Djokovic and Federer have won nine of 11 titles in Dubai.
Venus Williams was last week's champion in the WTA's edition of the Dubai Championships.