Djokovic, Nadal get easy first round matches

Quite expectedly, top seed Novak Djokovic and second seed Rafael Nadal were drawn in the opposite side of the bracket for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, with them potentially meeting only in the final. At the draw ceremony held yesterday, Serbian Djokovic, who is on a hot streak, was drawn to open his 2016 ATP World Tour season campaign against a qualifier in the opening round, while second seed Nadal of Spain will meet compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta, ranked No 69 in the world.The main round of the $1,189,605 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, which was first played in 1993, will begin tomorrow and go on until Saturday, January 9. The four qualifying slots will be decided tomorrow, with the first round matches being held yesterday at the Khalifa Complex.Djokovic had a dream 2015 season, as he swept through men’s titles winning three majors, and making it to 15 successive tour finals to pocket more than $21 million in prize money. The 28-year-old, however, had a disappointing Qatar Open last year, as he suffered his only pre-final loss of 2015 at the event when he was beaten by Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in three seats in the quarter-finals. If Djokovic gets past yet-to-be-decided qualifier, which he should comfortably, he does face a potentially tricky second round match against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who has dropped down to 49th in the ranking.The left-hander, a semifinalist at the 2009 Australian Open, has a career-high ranking of 7 but has dropped down the radar. Verdasco will meet wild card Malek Jaziri of Tunisia in the first round.Nadal, the 2014 Qatar Open winner, will square up against Busta, who the former World No1 had beaten in 2015, in their only meeting so far. Now No 5, Nadal will be keen to start on a good note in Doha, having been ousted in the very first round here last year by Germany’s Michael Berrer in three sets. Nadal has also entered in doubles, pairing up with country mate Verdasco and will face Teymuraz Gabashvili and Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round.Meanwhile, defending champion and fourth seed David Ferrer, who is in the same half of the draw as Nadal, will face Illya Marchenko, the No 94th ranked Ukrainian. Czech Republic’s Thomas Berdych, last year’s finalist, is seeded number three this time and will face Sergiy Starkhovsky of Ukraine. This will be the seventh meeting between the two, with Berdych having won all the previous meetings.Starkhovsky, who present at the draw ceremony yesterday, was hoping he can break the duck against Berdych. “It’s a tough match for sure. We played three times last year, two times in hard court and once in Clay, but unfortunately I didn’t win any. But I had my chances there. It going to be a tough match to start the season, and I hope I can change the results this year,” said the 62nd ranked Starkhovsky. Also playing this year are the world number 29 Andreas Seppi and Argentina’s Leonardo Meyer, ranked 35.  As far as home hope is concerned, Mubarak Shannan Zayid, the 1761th ranked Qatari has received a wild card. The 20-year-old has drawn a tougher opponent as he is slated to face seventh seed Jermey Chardy of France in the opening round. First round drawSingles (Seedings in bracket): [1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs. Qualifier; F. Verdasco (ESP) vs. [WC] M. Jaziri (TUN); P. Andujar (ESP) vs. P. Lorenzi (ITA); Qualifier vs. [8] L. Mayer (ARG); [3] T. Berdych (CZE) vs. S. Stakhovsky (UKR); M. Cecchinato (ITA) vs. D. Dzumhur (BIH); Qualifier vs. M. Klizan (SVK); D. Mu?oz de la Nava (ESP) vs. [5] F. Lopez (ESP); [7] J. Chardy (FRA) vs. [WC] M. Zayid (QAT); A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs. P. Mathieu (FRA); T. Gabashvili (RUS) vs. S. Bolelli (ITA); I. Marchenko (UKR) vs. [4] D. Ferrer (ESP); [6] A. Seppi (ITA) vs. R. Berankis (LTU); [WC] M. Ilhan (TUR) vs. A. Kuznetsov (RUS); R. Haase (NED) vs. Qualifier; P. Carreno Busta (ESP) vs. [2] R. Nadal (ESP)Men’s Doubles:[1] J. Rojer (NED) / H. Tecau (ROU) vs. J. Erlich (ISR) / C. Fleming (GBR); R. Nadal (ESP) / F. Verdasco (ESP) vs. T. Gabashvili (RUS) / A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP); [4] P. Petzschner (GER) / A. Peya (AUT) vs. [WC] M. Zayed (QAT) / M. Zayid (QAT); D. Marrero (ESP) / A. Seppi (ITA) vs. P. Andujar (ESP) / L. Mayer (ARG) S. Bolelli (ITA) / S. Stakhovsky (UKR) vs. J. Knowle (AUT) / A. Sa (BRA); W. Koolhof (NED) / M. Middelkoop (NED) vs. [3] F. Lopez (ESP) / M. Lopez (ESP); J. Chardy (FRA) / P. Mathieu (FRA) vs. [WC] J. Ali Mutawa (QAT) / M. Jaziri (TUN); R. Albot (MDA) / M. Klizan (SVK) vs. [2] J. Murray (GBR) / B. Soares (BRA) Qualifying first round resultsMirza Basic (BIH) bt Inigo Cervantes (ESP) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5; R. Bemelmans (BEL); B. Becker (GER) bt Flavio Cipolla (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; Kyle Edmund (GBR) bt  Andrea Arnaboldi (ITA) 6-4, 6-3; Aslan Karatsev (RUS) bt Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) 6-3, 6-3; Lukas Lacko (SVK) bt  Jan Hernych (CZE) Jan Hernych 6-1, 6-4; Michael Berrer (GER) bt Jabor Mohammed Ali Mutawa (QAT) 6-0, 6-1; Dustin Brown (GER) bt Marek Michalicka (CZE) 7-6 (5), 6-4; Radu Albot (MDA) bt Mousa Shanan Zayed (QAT) 6-2, 6-1.