ATP Dubai: Dennis Novak fails in round one, Struff on Monday
Dennis Novak failed in the first round of the ATP 500 event in Dubai. The Lower Austrian lost to Alexei Popyrin in two close sets. Jan-Lennard Struff, on the other hand, will only join the tournament on Monday.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Mar 14, 2021, 07:19 pm

Alexei Popyrin is a name that Austrian tennis fans will remember painfully. Against the young Australian, Dominic Thiem's dream of the Grand Slam title came to an abrupt end two years ago at the Grand Slam Down Under. In the third round, Thiem had to give up visibly battered.
Now the Australian has struck again against an Austrian. Popyrin defeated Dennis Novak in the first round of the Dubai ATP 500 event on Sunday evening. It was a game on a knife edge: set one went to Popyrin in the tie-break, in the second round the 21-year-old managed a late break, which should defeat Novak's 6-7 (3) and 5-7 defeat.
Thiem as number one
The second Austrian in the main draw in Dubai is number one: Dominic Thiem, fourth in the world rankings. Number two on the seeding list is Andrey Rublev, who has currently celebrated twenty wins in a row at the ATP 500 level. Roger Federer, on the other hand, canceled his start at the desert event at short notice.
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From a German point of view, only Jan-Lennard Struff is at the start in Dubai. The Warsteiner will intervene in the tournament tomorrow, Monday, Struff meets Mikhail Kukushkin, who most recently made Dominic Thiem's clash at the Australian Open difficult for Dominic Thiem.