Milos Raonic bounced in 1st round at Dubai tournament
Canadian eliminated by unseeded Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany; Federer vying for 100th ATP title
Canada's Milos Raonic lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in a first-round upset at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday.
The seventh-seeded Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., had 15 aces to Struff's seven and won 82 per cent of first-serve points, but could not overcome his 54th-ranked opponent at the ATP Tour 500, hard-court event.
Raonic, ranked 14th in the world, is 1-2 since returning from a knee injury suffered at the Australian Open in January.
Raonic had won his only previous meeting against Struff — at Wimbledon last year.
WATCH | Raonic out early in Dubai:
Meanwhile, Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime is expected to play his first-round match at the Brasil Open against Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas on Tuesday in Sao Paulo. The 18-year-old is coming off a run to the final at the Rio Open.
On the women's side, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., is expected to return to action on Tuesday at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL in Acapulco, Mexico. The 18-year-old will face Swiss wild card Jil Teichmann.
Federer begins hunt for 100th career title in Dubai
Roger Federer began his latest quest for a 100th ATP title with a battling 6-4 3-6 6-1 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round in Dubai.
Competing for the first time since his fourth-round defeat by Stefanos Tsitsipas at last month's Australian Open, world No. 7 Federer overcame a blip midway through his match before rallying to beat Germany's Kohlschreiber.
The 20-times Grand Slam champion, who has been stuck on 99 titles since triumphing at his hometown Basel tournament last October, next faces Fernando Verdasco after the world No. 32 got past Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano 3-6 6-3 6-2.
The second seeded Swiss has never lost to Verdasco in six meetings, last beating the 35-year-old Spanish in Dubai four years ago.