Sportmaster International

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Reigning champion Rafael Nadal and last week’s Memphis titlist Tommy Haas were among Tuesday’s first- round winners at the $1.5 million Dubai Tennis Championships.The second-seeded Nadal won his sixth straight match at this event by overcoming Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 at Dubai Tennis Stadium. The two-time French Open champion Nadal, of Spain, upset world No. 1 superstar Roger Federer in last year’s Dubai finale.The world No. 2 Nadal’s second-round opponent on Wednesday will be dangerous Russian Igor

Andreev.A fifth-seeded Haas won his sixth straight match overall by leveling Czech Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3. The German Haas is fresh off his title in Memphis, where he upended U.S. Open runner-up Andy Roddick in the finale.Up next for the streaking Haas will be Frenchman Florent Serra.Third-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko barely advanced by coming back to beat 35-year-old Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui, the 2002 runner-up here, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5, 7-5. The world No. 4 Davydenko, who needed 2 hours, 51 minutes to sneak past the oldest player in the draw, will meet pesky Belgian Olivier Rochus in the round of 16.In other opening-round action involving seeds, No. 7 Serbian Novak Djokovic overcame Belgian Kristof Vliegen 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and Swede Robin Soderling ousted No. 8 Spaniard David Ferrer 7-6 (15-13), 6-1.Additional wins came for Italian Daniele Bracciali, German Rainer Schuettler, this month’s Marseille champion Gilles Simon of France and Russian Mikhail Youzhny. Bracciali handled Austrian Oliver Marach 6-4, 6-3 to set-up a second- round bout against the top-seeded and three-time Dubai champion Federer. Youzhny, fresh off his title in Rotterdam, outlasted Finn Jarkko Nieminen 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Day 2 here.This week’s champion will collect $300,000.© 2007 The Sports Network