DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Third seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic recorded his first ATP win in more than a month Monday with a first-round triumph at the $1 million Dubai Tennis Championships.
Novak beat Dominik Hrbaty, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, for his second straight victory over the Slovakian in Dubai. He defeated Hrbaty here in the first round last year.
Although he won both his Davis Cup singles matches earlier this month, Novak had not won since reaching the third round of the Australian Open in mid-January. He lost in the first round of tour events at Milan and Marseille.
France's Fabrice Santoro opened defense of his title Monday, rallying for a 6-7 (1-7), 6-2, 6-0 victory over Austrian Stefan Koubek in a match delayed by rain.
Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia played to a 6-6 tie with Russia's Andrei Stoliarov, then retired with a right leg injury.
Making his ATP-season debut, Ivanisevic strained a ligament above his right knee during the first point of the first set tiebreaker. He went to a local hospital for an MRI scan shortly after the match finished.
"My knee just topped it, then I heard a click and I don't know if it's a strain or broken," Ivanisevic explained.
Ivanisevic's 2002 campaign was cut short after undergoing left shoulder surgery on May 16. He participated in Davis Cup doubles to help Croatia upset the United States and played in a challenger event.
After losing the first game of his match against German qualifier Maximilian Abel, Ivo Heuberger of Switzerland retired with a lower back ailment.
Also, seventh seed Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco routed local wild card Omar Bahrouzyan, 6-0, 6-3; Spain's Feliciano Lopez topped Uzbekistan's Vadim Kutsenko, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; and Hicham Arazi of Morocco dispatched Jan Vacek of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-1.
