Brutal Aussie twist after Novak Djokovic's return to tennis in Dubai
Alex de Minaur has missed a chance to face Novak Djokovic in the World No.1's comeback event, losing his opening match in Dubai on Tuesday.
De Minaur was eyeing off a second-round showdown with Djokovic in the UAE, but couldn't get past Karen Kachenov in his opening match.
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The Australian men's No.1 went down 6-3 6-7 (1-7) 7-5 to the Russian, who will instead face Djokovic on Wednesday.
De Minaur battled hard for nearly three hours against Khachanov, but having drawn level with a convincing tie-break to win the second set, was broken when serving at 5-6 in the third.
Having saved one match point but failing to convert four game points, the Aussie finally lost the match with a double-fault.
However it wasn't all bad news for the Aussies, with Alexei Popyrin claiming an impressive victory over World No.19 Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Popyrin, who came into the tournament as a lucky loser having lost to Jiri Vesely in qualifying, beat his Georgian opponent 6-2 6-3 in just under an hour.
The match went with serve for five games before Popyrin won seven-straight games, including three successive breaks, to take the opening set and what proved an unassailable 3-0 lead in the second.
It was a welcome return to form for the World No.66 who had lost in the opening round in his last five events: Sydney, Melbourne's Australian Open, Montpellier, Rotterdam and Marseille.
He will now play Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis, who defeated Jan-Lennard Struff.
Novak Djokovic makes successful return to tennis
Djokovic lost the opening two points in his return to tennis but then won many more as he emerged victorious in his first competitive match of the year on Monday.
The World No.1, whose most recent match was in the Davis Cup finals in early December, beat Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti in the first round in Dubai.
Djokovic won 6-3 6-3 in 73 minutes in his first match since being deported from Australia last month.
The 34-year-old said he was a little rusty at times but "that is to be expected" and he "very much enjoyed" being in front of a crowd again.
"It's been a while since I played the last match and I couldn't pick a better place to kick-start the season," he said in his on-court post-match interview.
"All in all it was a very pleasant experience for me."
Djokovic was cheered onto court and had plenty of support under the lights, with some spectators waving flags bearing his likeness and the slogan 'Stand with Novak'.
The five-time champion in Dubai had no problems getting into the United Arab Emirates despite being the only player in the men's top 100 unvaccinated against Covid-19.
The jab is not required for visitors to Dubai and the tournament is among the few without a vaccination mandate.
with AAP
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