Dubai, Feb 23 (AP) Second-seeded Andrey Rublev beat Daniel Evans 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Dubai Championships, just two days after winning his ninth tour title.

The Russian, who defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final at the Open 13 tournament in Marseille on Sunday, next faces Soonwoo Kwan after the South Korean beat Ilya Ivashka 6-3, 6-2.

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The seventh-ranked Rublev also won the doubles title in Marseille with Ukrainian partner Denys Molchanov.

"I arrived at the hotel maybe at 2 a.m. today," Rublev said in his on-court interview Tuesday.

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"I slept maybe six or seven hours. I was thinking that probably no chance for me to win, and here I am, I won my first round so I'm really happy. I cannot imagine a better start."

Karen Khachanov will face top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the second round after the Russian beat Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-7 (1), 7-5.

On Monday, Djokovic won his first match of the year when he beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-3. The top-ranked Serb couldn't defend his Australian Open title last month because he was deported from the country for being unvaccinated.

Fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner outlasted Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 and will next face Andy Murray.

American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald topped seventh-seeded Aslan Karatsev of Russia 7-5, 6-3 to set up a second-round match against Filip Krajinovic of Serbia. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)