23 February,2010 08:46 AM IST | | AFP
Novak Djokovic began his bid to make his first successful title defence on the ATP Tour with a weird wobble and an uncomfortable feeling which he described, after his 6-4, 6-4 win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the Dubai Open, as "sweaty."
The problem was that the match had appeared all but over when the World No 2 from Serbia quelled the fluent Spaniard's best efforts and advanced to 5-0 in the second set.
Then, against the odds, Garcia-Lopez broke back twice and looked capable of extending the contest.
"It was not pleasant him coming from 5-0 to 5-4 and serving to get back into the match," admitted Djokovic.
"But it was all my fault, you knowu00a0-- I think I lost focus."
The champion was being very self-critical. Before that he had accelerated from 4-4 in the first set with a winning sequence of seven games in which he began to be consistently too forceful for Garcia-Lopez.
It indicated that, even though he had been unwell during the Australian Open, he may now be in decent shape, and will be a strong favourite to make further progress when he takes on his compatriot Viktor Troicki for a place in the last eight.
Another front runner for the title, Andy Murray had the most unusual match of the opening day, despite the routine-sounding 6-2, 6-3 win over Russian qualifier Igor Kunitsyn, who is only just inside the top 100.
Murray appeared to have some physical issues, with his groin and knee in his first match since playing Roger Federer in the Australian Open final three weeks ago. "My ankle was sore at the start of the match and I was really out of breath early on. I have not practised that much, or trained that much and there were a lot of long rallies," said Murray.
