Daniil Medvedev began his title defence at the Dubai Championships by defeating Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 7-5 in his first encounter since losing the Australian Open final to Jannik Sinner. Medvedev, the top seed, withdrew from tournaments in Doha and Rotterdam due to exhaustion and a right foot ailment after losing to Sinner at Melbourne Park.
Medvedev rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the second set to win in four games. He will play Lorenzo Sonego in the second round of the hard-court competition. Among other first-round matches on Tuesday, fourth-seeded Karen Khachanov defeated Luca Van Assche 6-2, 6-3; fifth-seeded Ugo Humbert upset Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; and eighth-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina overcame Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.