Former World No. 4 Tomas Berdych returned to the ATP Tour for the first time in six months on Monday and opened his 2019 campaign with a 6-4, 7-6(5) first-round victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in one hour and 42 minutes at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Czech wild card Berdych, who went 11-11 in 2018 before ending his year in June due to a back injury, will next play eighth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in Doha.
Verdasco, the 2017 semi-finalist (l. to Djokovic), won 83 per cent of his first-service points and struck nine aces to beat lucky loser Paolo Lorenzi of Italy 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to join fellow Spaniard — seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut — in the second round. Bautista Agut avenged his loss to Italian Matteo Berrettini in last year’s Gstaad final with a 6-1, 6-4 first-round win over 69 minutes.
Elsewhere, fifth-seeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili lost five of his first-service points in beating Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 in one hour and 38 minutes. Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, making his tournament debut, scraped past Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and 38 minutes.
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