Djokovic wins on return to action in Dubai

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Djokovic wins on return to action in Dubai

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Novak Djokovic and Mardy Fish advanced in the Dubai Tennis Championships.

28 February,2012 03:57 am

Novak Djokovic shook off the rust to beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-4, 6-2 at the Dubai Tennis Championships Monday in his first match since winning the Australian Open.Sixth-seeded Mardy Fish also had an easy time against Andreas Beck of Germany, winning 6-1, 6-1 to join Djokovic in the second round.The top-ranked Djokovic has not played a match in nearly four weeks and it showed at times. He broke the 72nd-ranked German to go up 1-0 but had to save two break points in the fourth game as he struggled with Stebes return game. Stebe pushed the set to 5-4 and deuce before Djokovic hit his first ace and another good serve which the German returned long.Djokovic had an easier second set, breaking twice. He won the match with his third ace of the match and another serve that Stebe couldnt return.Djokovic, going for a fourth consecutive Dubai title, is now 8-0 this year after beating Stebe. He insisted that he was not concerned with matching his exploits in 2011, in which he won three Grand Slams and started the season with a 41-match winning streak.A few hours before his match, Djokovic was courtside as his younger brother Marko lost his match to Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2. The 869th-ranked Djokovic was granted a wild card into the tournament.Djokovic serves as a mentor of sorts for the 20-year-old Marko and said it was hard to see his brother struggling, admitting that can difficult for Marko and his other tennis-playing brother 16-year-old Djordje to always be compared to him.Fish, meanwhile, broke Beck twice in the first set to lead 4-0. In the second, he broke three times before closing it out in 57 minutes.The American has had a mixed year so far, crashing out in the second round of the Australian Open and losing to 388th-ranked Albano Olivetti in the Marseille quarterfinals last week. He did, however, help the United States rout Switzerland 5-0 in the Davis Cup.