On Sunday, Malek Jaziri won his 100th career Tour-level match and reached the second round of Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. His joy was subdued because he won after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to withdraw with a right arm injury.

He says that he’s sad to achieve his victory in this manner because he immensely respected Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and hopes that he recovers soon. He feels lucky to play at this level, further maintaining his attitude of aggressive play.

Due to a back injury, Tsonga has been unable to play for over a year, following a loss in Montpellier. His first win was over a year ago against Feliciano Lopez in Marseille. Last week he was defeated in his only two matches in 2020. His match against Jaziri was his third of 2021.

At the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships on Sunday, Kei Nishikori recovers from a set down to defeat Reilly Opelka at 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Nishikori, a former world number four, has struggled with illness and injury during his career. He underwent elbow surgery for the second time after losing in the third round of the US Open in August 2019. He only played four events in 2020, winning two matches.

When Opelka broke to lead 5-3 and served the first set to love, things started going against him. When Nishikori broke to lead 3-1 in the second, he injured his right ankle and needed to get it bandaged for the next round.

Nishikori was not in pain when the play resumed. Nishikori took a 4-3 lead in the third set thanks to a double-fault from Opelka, and that one break was enough to settle the match. He played a solid match focusing on the first service game because he might not get a chance on his return game. He was quite surprised by his returns on breakpoints.

Dominic Thiem, the top choice of all time, trying to build on a slow start to the 2021 season, which included a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open and a quarter-final defeat in Doha to former Dubai champion Roberto Bautista Agut.

Thiem, who earned a first-round bye, will face either Christopher O'Connell or Lloyd Harris after a bye in the second round. He says, he was not at the top of his game. He felt Australia bit weird and difficult to digest but was trying to get back to the top of the game and work hard every day. He feels, he is heading in right direction by playing strong matches in Doha Tournament, against strong opponents.

Tournament Director Salah Tahlak says everyone can now look forward to an equally exciting men's tournament after an exciting week of women's tennis.

After defeating our two top seeds, Dominic Thiem and Andrey Rublev, to reach the final in Doha, 2018 champion Roberto Bautista Agut is expected to become a favorite. However, it is difficult to foresee how the week will turn out or who will emerge as our 2021 champion.