Roger Federer: qualifier Evgeny Donskoy stuns Australian Open champion

Roger Federer is in Dubai this week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The Australian Open men’s champion is upset in his second round match.

Roger Federer is coming off of one of his greatest accomplishments to date. His win at the Australian Open earlier this year gave him his 18th Grand Slam singles title.

The Swiss tennis player cruised through his first round match in Dubai, but met a shocking ending against Evgeny Donskoy in his next match.

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Donskoy defeats Federer 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5).

Federer appeared in control during the first set, but could not finish off Donskoy in either of the next two sets. The Australian Open champion squandered numerous opportunities to pull away from the Russian challenger throughout the match.

Including his qualifying matches, the young Russian tennis player has dropped just a single set in Dubai. That one set came against Roger Federer.

Now, the path is wide open for players like world No. 1 Andy Murray to continue toward a title in Dubai. Donskoy moves on and will face French tennis player and seventh seeded Lucas Pouille in his next match. Also upset in Dubai was fifth seeded player Tomas Berdych.

It is not panic time for Federer, but the loss is unfortunate given this being his first competitive ATP singles tournament since Melbourne Park. The Australian Open champion must now look ahead in hopes that he can maintain a top ten ranking in men’s singles tennis over the next several weeks. With the French Open rapidly approaching, Roger Federer cannot be deterred by the loss in Dubai.

Stay tuned to see how Donskoy, Murray, and others fare at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

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