Djokovic, Federer, and Murray all advance to the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships.

The world number one had an easy victory in the second round, while Roger Federer had to endure a more tense match to advance. Andy Murray can also be pleased with his quick win on Wednesday, February 25th.

Djokovic won much more easily than in the first round. Photo: Reuters.

The tournament currently taking place in the UAE is Novak Djokovic's first appearance since winning the Australian Open earlier this month. In the first round, the 27-year-old Serbian player struggled to secure a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Vasek Pospisil of Canada.

But after regaining his rhythm, Djokovic had a much more convincing victory in the second round on the evening of February 25th. He defeated Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan with a score of 6-1, 6-2. With a ticket to the quarterfinals, the world number one took another step towards his goal of winning his 50th ATP Tour title. His next opponent will be qualifier Marsel Ilhan – who caused the first surprise of the tournament with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over sixth seed Feliciano Lopez.

Meanwhile, after a smooth start in Dubai, Roger Federer had a poor start in his second-round match against Fernando Verdasco. The world number two fell behind 1-4 before winning 20 consecutive points to come back and win the first set 6-4. After wasting an opportunity to spring a surprise, Verdasco couldn't do any better in the second set, losing it 3-6. In the quarterfinals, Federer will face Richard Gasquet, after the Frenchman defeated seventh seed Roberto Bautista-Agut 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(8-6).

Federer had a difficult start but avoided any surprises. Photo: Reuters.

Third seed Andy Murray struggled in the first round, only managing a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Gilles Mueller. Therefore, he was more pleased with his easy second-round performance. The Scottish player needed just 57 minutes for a 6-0, 6-2 win against Joao Sousa of Portugal.

In his last appearance at the tournament in Dubai three years ago, Andy Murray reached the final. In the quarterfinals, he will face Borna Coric – the young Croatian player who defeated 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis in a match that lasted nearly three hours. Coric won the first set 6-4. Baghdatis won the second set 6-3, but then had to withdraw in the tie-break of the third set at 4-4.

Fourth seed Tomas Berdych, who reached the final of the Dubai tournament in both of the past two years, also advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Simone Bolelli 7-6, 5-7, 6-0. Berdych's next opponent will be Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine.

According to VNE