British No 1 Jack Draper made a winning comeback on his Doha debut after beating Alexei Popyrin in straight sets to reach the second round of the Qatar Open.
Draper was back in action for the first time in over a month since he retired when two sets down to Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open.
The 23-year-old had previously been troubled by a hip problem in the weeks leading up to Melbourne.
But Draper looked in decent shape as he broke big-serving Australian Popyrin twice when racing to the first set in just 27 minutes.
The second set was a tighter affair, with Draper having to save a set point at 5-6.
But he stood up well in the tie-break, finishing the job with a pair of aces to come through a good test of his fitness 6-2 7-6 (4).
Draper will face another Australian, qualifier Christopher O’Connell, in the second round of the tournament, live on Sky Sports.
If he wins that, Draper could meet Novak Djokovic, who is also back from injury and looking for a 100th career ATP title, in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic faces Italian former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini in the first round on Tuesday.
Tale of the Tape
Alcaraz overcomes Cilic in straight sets
Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz overcame Croatian veteran Marin Cilic 6-4 6-4 to reach the last 16 at the Qatar Open.
The 36-year-old Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion who has fallen to No 192 in the rankings, was playing his first match of the season after recovering from a long-term knee injury.
The Croatian led 4-3 and 0-40 on Alcaraz’s serve in the second set, but the Spanish four-time major winner managed to recover and then broke in the next game.
“I am just really happy that I stayed calm at that moment, breathing, going through my routines, making good points,” Alcaraz said. “That’s why I was able to win in two sets.”
Daniel Dubois v Joseph Parker and the Artur Beterbiev v Dmitry Bivol rematch will be live on Saturday February 22 on Sky Sports Box Office. Book now!
