Roger Federer to start bid for eighth Dubai title against Philipp Kohlschreiber

ATP Tour
Roger Federer applauding

Roger Federer will kick off his campaign to win an eighth Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner, who last won the Dubai title in 2015, is seeded second for the ATP World Tour 500 event behind Kei Nishikori, and if he comes through his encounter against German Kohlschreiber then he could meet Fernando Verdasco in the second round.

A potential clash against Milos Ranoic awaits in the quarter-final while one of Karen Khachanov, Tomas Berdych or Borna Coric could be his semi-final opponent.

As for the final, Nishikori, Gael Monfils and Stefanos Tsitsipas are all strong contenders to come through the other half of the draw.

World no 6 Nishikori makes his debut in Dubai this week and he will open his tournament up against Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Rotterdam Open winner Monfils has a tough first-round clash as he faces former US Open winner Marin Cilic while Australian Open semi-finalist Tsitsipas will take on Matthew Ebden from Australia.

Marin Cilic goes up against Gael Monfils, while Stefanos Tsitspias, the surprise package of the Australian Open, where he beat Federer on his run to the semi-finals, goes up against Matthew Ebden first as the No 5 seed.

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