Sportmaster International

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Playing for the first time since capturing the Australian Open title last month, Swiss superstar Roger Federer was a hard-fought first-round winner at the $1.5 million Dubai Tennis Championships. Federer also set a new record for consecutive weeks (161) at No. 1 on Monday.A rusty Federer, who extended his career-high winning streak to 37 matches, barely got past Dane Kristian Pless 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-3, but the mighty Swiss may have been distracted by his latest accomplishment, as he dropped his first set of 2007.Last

week, Federer equaled Jimmy Connors’ record for consecutive weeks as the No. 1 tennis player in the world. On Monday, he set the new mark.Federer was honored with an on-court ceremony at Dubai Tennis Stadium.’This is definitely something that will stay for quite sometime,’ Federer said. ‘I’ll definitely keep it [the record] for three years [laughing]. It’s very hard to beat. It’s not something you do overnight. It’s a long, hard- working process.'’Jimmy was one of the all-time great players,’ Federer added. ‘He played for such a long time. To stay fit through all that time with such intensity is quite remarkable. We know players today who are intense — Hewitt and Nadal. Can you imagine them playing until 40 years old? It’s almost impossible. But Jimmy did that.’The supreme Swiss has held the top spot since February 2, 2004. The American Connors set the original record with a 160-week stay at No. 1 that lasted from July 29, 1974 to August 22, 1977.The ATP rankings started in August 1973.The 25-year-old Federer is a 10-time Grand Slam champion, including his title run at the Aussie Open last month when he failed to lose a set in seven matches. He’s won six of the last seven majors, but still needs a French Open championship to achieve a career Grand Slam.Federer has won the last four Wimbledon titles, the last three U.S. Open crowns and two straight Aussie Opens.The amazing Federer was last year’s Dubai runner-up to Rafael Nadal and captured this event three straight years from 2003-2005.Federer’s second-round opponent this week will be Austrian Oliver Marach or Italian Daniele Bracciali.A Day-1 upset occurred here when crafty Frenchman Fabrice Santoro took out fourth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych avoided an upset by overcoming Kuwait’s Mohammed Al Ghareeb 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Santoro titled here in 2002.Additional opening-round wins came for Belgian Olivier Rochus, Frenchman Florent Serra, Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty and Russian Igor Andreev.On Tuesday, a second-seeded Nadal will take on Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis, third-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko will face veteran Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui and fifth-seeded German Tommy Haas, fresh off his title in Memphis, will meet Czech Radek Stepanek. El Aynaoui was the ‘02 runner-up here to Santoro.This week’s champion will collect $300,000.© 2007 The Sports Network