World No. 2 Roger Federer opened his Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title defence Monday with a 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri. The 31-year-old Federer improved to a 35-4 record at this ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tournament, having lifted the trophy in 2003-2005, ’07 and last year with victory over Andy Murray.
The Swiss overcame a slow start, surrendering his serve in the 11th game as World No. 128 Jaziri, playing his first ATP World Tour match since October 2012, clinched the opening set with a backhand winner down the line. Federer fought back strongly and won 12 of the last 14 games to prevail in 90 minutes.
"It important to sort of react and make sure I didn't panic," said Federer. "But, of course your mind starts to wander, especially in a match where there is hardly any rallies. He's going for broke on every return. All you're trying to do is get into some rallies, and you're missing a lot yourself.
"It was a difficult match for me out here tonight, but I'm happy I found a way and got a day off now so I can work a little bit on the game. Just maybe the pressure is off a little bit, and then automatically I will play a lot better in the second round."
The Basel native is coming off a surprise quarter-final exit at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, where he fell to Julien Benneteau. He opened the season with a semi-final showing at the Australian Open (l. to Murray).