Story highlights
Rafael Nadal drops set before beating Philipp Kohlschreiber in Qatar
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also through to second round at ATP Tour opener
Roger Federer begins 2012 campaign with easy win over Nikolay Davydenko
Top seed Andy Murray needs three sets to win in Brisbane
Rafael Nadal fought back from a break down in the deciding set to beat Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in their first round clash at the Qatar Open Tuesday.
The World No.2 was extended by Kohlschreiber on a cold and windy night before winning 6-3 6-7 6-3 to kick off his 2012 campaign.
Nadal took the first set but found himself 1-4 down in the second before hitting back to level. He had two break points at 5-5, but failed to take them and lost the subsequent tiebreaker.
When his opponent broke him at the start of the third set an upset looked possible but the Spaniard upped his game and finished in command.
“I didn’t have a chance to practise much, I had problems with my shoulder and knee, and arrived feeling so-so,” Nadal told AFP after his season-opening win.
“So a victory was very important. The beginning was a bit risky but I came back well and played a bit more aggressive.”
Defending champion Roger Federer had an easier passage in his first round match against Nikolay Davydenko of Russia which followed.
Federer, who finished 2011 on a high by winning the ATP World Tour Finals, extended his winning run to 18 with a 6-2 6-2 breeze against another former champion.
The main opposition to the leading pair in Qatar looks likely to come from France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, as the third seed dispatched Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri 7-6 6-7 6-1.
Meanwhile, World No.4 and top seed Andy Murray also survived a first round scare at the Brisbane International Tuesday.
The Scot was taken to three sets by Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin before winning 5-7 6-3 6-2 after two and a quarter hours on the Pat Rafter Arena.
Murray appeared to be hampered by injury, with his right knee bandaged and twice called for the trainer.
He played down talk of injury worries ahead of the Australian Open where he lost in the final last year to Novak Djokovic.
“I’ve had a few little niggles over the past couple of weeks but they’ll be gone by the Australian Open. I just need to play through them now and hopefully feel better,” he told gathered reporters.
