Tennis: World No 1 Murray to face Tunisia's Jaziri in DDF Tennis Championships opener

Dubai - Third seed Federer, the only player to have won three of the four Grand Slams at least five times each, will meet Frenchman Benoit Paire

Andy Murray - the world's best player according to the official ATP rankings - will begin his campaign in the 25th edition of the multi-award winning Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against the best player from the Arab world.
Tunisia's Malek Jaziri, the world number 47 and the flag-bearer of Arab tennis who famously took Roger Federer to three sets at the 2013 Dubai championship, perhaps would have hoped for an easier opponent in the first round.
"Malek Jaziri has played at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships several times before and has always performed with great credit, reaching the quarterfinals in 2014," said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, the tournament owners and organisers.
"His match against the world number one Andy Murray will be fascinating to watch."
The 33-year-old Tunisian veteran will have the passionate Centre Court crowd behind him when he takes on the only player in the history of the game to win two Olympic singles gold in tennis.
Third seed Federer, the only player in tennis history to have won three of the four Grand Slams at least five times each, will lock horns with Frenchman Benoit Paire, a world number 41, in his first round match.
Federer has won the Dubai title seven times and his last triumph came in 2015 when he beat Novak Djokovic, a four-time Dubai winner, in straight sets in the final.
Murray has never won in Dubai and his best run came in 2012 when he lost the final to Federer.
But he has Federer in his half of the draw this time which means they are on course to meet in the semifinal on the centre court.
In the other half of the draw, second seed Stanislas Wawrinka will kick off his campaign against Bosnian world number 79 Damir Dzumhur.
Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, beat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the final to win his first Dubai title last year.
Fourth seed Gael Monfils of France will take on Egyptian wild card Mohamed Safwat in the first round.
Two-time Dubai runner-up Tomas Berdych will open his campaign against a qualifier. But the fifth seeded Czech is likely to face Wawrinka in the quarters.
UAE's Omar Behroozian has been given a wild card by the organisers and he will face rising Russian star Daniil Medvedev in the first round.
"There are very interesting matches right from the first round and difficult matches lay ahead for even the very top seeds in the draw. We can look forward to a wonderful week of tennis and many fierce battles to determine who will receive the highly coveted trophy," Tournament Director Salah Tahlak said at the draw.
The men's event of the tournament begins on Monday.
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com