By Niall Clarke
- Kyle Edmund defeats Martin Klizan 6-2,6-3
- The Brit will face Daniel Munoz- De La Nava in round two
- There were also wins for Novak Djokovic and Jeremy Chardy
Doha, Qatar- Kyle Edmund is through to the second round of the Qatar Exxon Mobil open after an easy straight sets victory over Martin Klizan.
Britwatch Tennis:
Despite being ranked nearly 60 places below his opponent, the British number three was comfortable as he raced to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in 71 minutes.
Edmund made an early breakthrough in the fourth game by breaking the Klizan serve on the fifth time of asking and from there it was fairly routine. A second break of serve secured the opening set for the Brit.
Edmund broke early in the second but was pegged back by his Slovakian opponent. However the Yorkshireman quickly regained composure and went right back to work on the Klizan serve.
The Brit quickly retook the lead in the second set before comfortably serving out the match to confirm his progression to round two.
He will face Daniel Munoz- De La Nava in the next round after the Spaniard upset fifth seed Feliciano Lopez. The world number 75 came from a set down to defeat his compatriot 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 to set up a meeting with Edmund in the second round.
World number one Novak Djokovic was also victorious 6-2, 6-2 over Dustin Brown. We were treated to some more of the entertaining style of the German but Djokovic was always comfortable as he eased to his first victory of 2016.
Seventh seed Jeremy Chardy only dropped two games en route to a 6-1, 6-1 win against local wildcard Mubarak Shannan Zayid. There were also victories for Robin Haase and Damir Dzumhur as the ATP season kicked off in style
British number two Aljaz Bedene will be in action in Chennai tomorrow when he faces Vasek Pospisil.
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