Federer cruises in Dubai as Murray labours

Federer raced through the first set in only 17 minutes, breaking his opponent three times in a ruthlessly dominant display of court craft.

The Swiss number two seed did not drop a game until the eighth of the match, but the Frenchman dug in to force a tie break in the second set.

The breaker was closely-fought but Federer eventually won it 8-6 with a backhand on the run. He will now play Spaniard Felicano Lopez, who beat France’s Nicolas Mahut 6-4 6-4.

World number four Murray was pushed hard by German qualifier Michael Berrer before winning 6-3 4-6 6-4 to book his place in the second round.

The third seed, who was playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-final of the Australian Open in January, led by a set and 3-2 before Berrer fought back to clinch the second.

Murray looked sluggish at the start of the decider, but broke to lead 5-4 and then comfortably closed out the match.

“At the start of the match I didn’t feel great,” Murray said on the ATP website (www.atpworldtour.com).

“It was one of those strange sets. It was quite a frustrating match because I was up a break twice in the second set, and each time I think gave it straight back.

“I could have made it a little bit easier for myself if I played a bit better.”

Murray will face Marco Chiudinelli in the second round after the Swiss overcame Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 5-7 6-4.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fought past Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-6 6-4 while Czech Tomas Berdych beat Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-2 6-2.

Collated results in the first round of the ATP Dubai Open on Tuesday (x denotes seeding):

Andy Murray (GBR x3) bt Michael Berrer (GER) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA) 6-3, retired Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) bt Omar Awadhy (UAE) 6-1, 6-2 Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 Flavio Cipolla (ITA) bt Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 6-2, 7-5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x4) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 Janko Tipsarevic (SRB x7) bt Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 6-2, 6-2.

Tomas Berdych (CZE x5) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-2, 6-2 Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Michael Llodra (FRA) 6-0, 7-6 (8/6)

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6-4, 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro (ARG x8) bt Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)