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Djokovic makes comfortable progress in Dubai

Marcos Baghdatis lost to Rafael Nadal in the first round last year © Getty Images

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Day one gallery

Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved into the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

With Garcia-Lopez struggling with his serve in the first, the 23-year-old was able to claim two set-winning breaks. Djokovic stepped it up a level in the early stages of the second, staying deep in the court to strike some masterful forehands as he raced into a 5-0 lead.

The resilient Spaniard launched a comeback when he clawed the score back to 5-4 with two consecutive breaks of his opponent's serve. At 15-15 in the 11th game of the set, Djokovic profited from a fortuitous deflection off the net cord as the momentum decisively swung his way - he would not lose another point in the match.

Afterwards, the world No. 2 said: "It was not pleasant coming from 5-0 to 5-4 and him serving to get back into the match, but it was all my fault. I think I lost focus. It's the first match outdoors since Australia, so still getting used to the conditions."

Djokovic, top seed in Dubai after Roger Federer's withdrawal due to a lung infection, will now play fellow Serbian Victor Troicki in the next round. Troicki enjoyed a comfortable 6-3 6-4 victory over Germany's Rainer Schuettler.

Marcos Baghdatis moved through to the second round with a 7-6 6-4 victory over eighth seed Gilles Simon.

The world No. 37, who won the Sydney International in January, triumphed in the tie-break after a tense opening set and carried the momentum over into the second set, where he raced to a 3-0 lead. However, just as it looked like Baghdatis was cruising to an easy victory, the Frenchman dug deep and won three straight matches to level the scores in the second set.

Baghdatis secured the crucial break to go 5-4 up and serve for the set, and will now face either Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli or Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman in the next round.

Jurgen Melzer was the first man to move into the second round with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Simone Bolelli. Melzer hit 11 aces as he cruised past the Italian, who is yet to win a match in 2010. Bolelli, who has dropped out of the world top 100 after reaching a career-high ranking of 36 last year, continued his woeful run of form with his sixth straight defeat in 2010.

Melzer, who would have potentially faced world No. 1 Roger Federer in the second round before the 16-time Grand Slam champion withdrew with illness, will fancy his chances of making the quarter-finals with a second-round match against either Tommy Robredo or Marseille Open finalist Julien Benneteau.

Fellow Austrian Stefan Koubek also moved through with a 7-6(4) 6-4 victory over Spain's Feliciano Lopez, while Ivan Ljubicic beat Jan Hernych 6-2 6-7(3) 6-4.

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