(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Stan Wawrinka's fans were curious to see if he could emulate his legendary countryman Roger Federer and the cult Serbian hero Novak Djokovic here in Dubai.
Federer and Djokovic are the only men to have defended their Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship titles.
But unfortunately for the Wawrinka fans who drool over his delicious one-handed backhand, the world number three was sent packing in the first round on Tuesday by a little-known Bosnian.
World number 77 Damir Dzumhur's stunning 7-6 6-3 win has now made Wawrinka only the second player after Federer to lose a first round match in Dubai as a defending champion.
Back in 2008, a young Scot named Andy Murray beat the then world number one Federer in three sets in Dubai, giving the Swiss genius the bitter taste of a first round defeat as a defending champion.
Now with two Olympic gold medals and three Grand Slam trophies in his bag, Murray is the number one player in the world.
But a title in the Dubai championship -- a premier 500 series ATP event -- has so far eluded the Briton.
But Murray, a finalist here in 2012, looks set to have another go at the title as he made a highly impressive start to his campaign on Tuesday against Tunisian Malek Jaziri.
The two-time Wimbledon champion was in superb form in his 6-4 6-1 win over Jaziri , the world number 51 from Tunisia.
Unlike Murray, Wawrinka oscillated between the sublime and the erratic.
Of course, it's always difficult to predict which Wawrinka would turn up on the court.
The one who could tame the Djokovics, Nadals and the Federers in the biggest matches in Grand Slams? Or the one who could go down tamely to anyone in other ATP events?
Unfortunately for the Dubai centre court crowd on Tuesday, Wawrinka was only a shadow of the player that beat Djokovic and Nadal in Grand Slam finals.
But there was little Dzumhur could do on a sunny day when Wawrinka got off to a flying start, taking a 4-1 lead in the first set. Errors then began to creep into his game as the Bosnian pounced on the chances he got to earn his third career match victory over a top 10 player.
"He played a good match today. I started well, but it was a tough match. It was tough I think as I was coming back a month after the Australian Open semifinal where I had an injury," the world number three said after the match. "I think he started also to play a bit better, putting his first serve a bit more and putting more pressure. "Physically I was a little bit slow sometimes, so I couldn't hit that hard from the baseline to push him back. I think I was a little bit too early in defence"
Nevertheless, Wawrinka preferred to look at the positives.
"For me the positive of the tournament here is that the knee is feeling good now. I don't have any pain. I need to still be really careful, but that was the only positive today," he said.
In other matches, number seven seed Lucas Pouille of France beat Czech Adam Pavlasek 6-2 6-2 without breaking a sweat, while British number two Daniel Evans was in outstanding form as he destroyed German Destin Brown 6-2 6-3.
Two-time Dubai finalist Mikhail Youzhny of Russia lost in straight sets to compatriot Evgeny Donskoy 6-4 6-4.
MENAFN0603201700490000ID1095294017
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.