Tennis: Ferrer avoids falling into a hole

DOHA: Top-seeded David Ferrer started the new season here with a dropped first set on Tuesday to Dustin Brown — a qualifier outside the world’s top 150.

It was eventually two and a half hours before the world number five from Spain survived his first round in the Qatar Open by 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 against Brown. In other matches, Richard Gasquet, the world number ten from France, beat Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-4.

Elsewhere, Gael Monfils, last year’s runner-up, won his first match in two and a half months with a comfortable 6-0, 6-3 win over the local wild card player, Mousa Shanan Zayed. His next encounter is a potentially tough one, against the third-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

There was, however, bad news for another Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy, the fifth seed, who lost to German qualifier, Daniel Brands 6-4, 6-4.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2013.