Wawrinka breaks racket on way to 1st win at Dubai tournament
February 23, 2016 | 5:23pm
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Second-seeded Stan Wawrinka has finally won a match at the Dubai Tennis Championships after beating Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) to advance to the second round.
Wawrinka played at the tournament in 2006 and 2008, and lost in the first round both times.
The fourth-ranked Swiss led 5-3 but couldn't close out the first set with his serve. A frustrated Wawrinka crushed his racket at 15-40 in the 11th game of the same set, and received a racket abuse warning.
"It's a good win, great win for me," Wawrinka said. "Not playing well, still winning, still fighting, still finding a way."
Earlier, third-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Joao Sousa of Portugal.
"A first match, playing outside after a while, it's a good test," Berdych said. "Don't make it more complicated than needed."
The seventh-ranked Berdych is a two-time finalist in Dubai, in 2013 and '14. He's reached at least the semifinals four of the last five years.
Australian Nick Kyrgios beat seventh-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The 33rd-ranked Kyrgios arrived in Dubai on Monday (Tuesday in Manila), having captured his first career ATP title at Marseille without dropping a set.
"I thought that both of us were playing really average today," Kyrgios said. "I wasn't feeling great. So I'm just happy I got through."
Also, eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany defeated wild-card entry Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 6-1, 7-5, and Borna Coric of Croatia beat Czech Jiri Vesely 6-4, 6-4.
Fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain defeated Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-2, 6-4.
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