Playing for the first time since his early ouster at the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic posted a straight-sets victory in the first round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament in Acapulco, Mexico.

Djokovic, a wild-card entrant who is the event’s top seed, got past Slovakia’s Martin Klizan 6-3, 7-6.

The Serbian star didn’t serve effectively through most of the match, though Klizan’s only two service breaks came in the second set. However, Djokovic had enough to get through the decisive tiebreaker.

Djokovic had been idle since falling in the second round of the Australian Open to Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in a five-set thriller.

In other first-round matches, second-seeded Rafael Nadal defeated Germany’s Mischa Zverev 6-4, 6-3 in a battle of left-handers. The same pair met earlier this year in Brisbane, Australia, where the Spaniard also emerged with a win.

Third-seeded Marin Cilic needed three sets to get past Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. Fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem, of Austria, topped France’s Gilles Simon 7-6, 6-3.

Sixth-seeded Nick Kyrgios, of Australia, also advanced, re-bounding to top Israel’s Dudi Sela 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

In women’s first-round action, only one seeded player fell.

Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic knocked off sixth-seeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 7-6, 6-1.

None of the other seeds in action dropped a set.

Federer stunned in Dubai Open

Roger Federer suffered a shock 3-6 7-6 7-6 loss to world number 116 Evgeny Donskoy, of Russia, in the Dubai Open second round yesterday.

Swiss Federer, playing his first tournament since winning his 18th grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, wasted three match points in the second set and led 5-2 in the third before the 26-year-old Donskoy fought back.

Third seed Federer, the former world number one and seven-times champion in Dubai, surged 5-1 ahead in the deciding tiebreaker but qualifier Donskoy reeled off six points in a row to secure a remarkable victory.

Earlier, top seed Andy Murray beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2 6-0 to reach the last 16.

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