Djokovic
Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Tommy Robredo of Spain during their ATP tennis match on the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships February 22, 2016. Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah

Novak Djokovic continues his bid for the Dubai Tennis Championships title in the UAE as he faces wildcard qualifier Malek Jaziri in the second round of the tournament.

Three weeks after winning his 11th Grand Slam title, Djokovic returned to the hard court with a convincing win in the opening round of the Dubai Tennis Championships against Spain’s Tommy Robredo 6-1 6-2. The Serb, who only surrendered seven points on serve in a 66-minute match, admitted he felt differently playing tennis after weeks of relaxing.

"Obviously playing my first match in three weeks, different conditions, I didn't know how I would start, whether or not I would execute the game plan as I prepared myself to," Djokovic said, reports the ATP’s official website. "But everything went well. Very few things went wrong.”

Djokovic will be battling against new face Jaziri, who defeated Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-4 6-1 in the opening round. The 28-year-old Serb has never encountered the Tunisian before, but Djokovic is considered the massive favourite to win over Jaziri as he looks for his career 700th victory.

"Every milestone is very special, of course," Djokovic said, reports ESPN. "I wish that I make the 700th win in this tournament, obviously."

Meanwhile, second seed Stan Wawrinka will open his Dubai Tennis Championships campaign against Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky. It will be the Swiss’ first match at an ATP World Tour 500 hard-court since 2008 and he has the chance for a second title of the season after winning in Chennai last month.

Aussie teen bad boy Nick Kyrgios will also open his bid at the event against Slovak Martin Klizan. Kyrgios won his maiden title at the Open 13 in Marseille and looks to continue his stellar play in Dubai.

Live streaming info

Watch the Dubai Tennis Championships 2016 live via ATP’s official website or TennisTV. Live scores for matches will be available on game days via ATP's official website.

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