DUBAI // Janko Tipsarevic will face the No 2 seed Andy Murray in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships after battling to overcome the Italian Andreas Seppi at the Aviation Club yesterday. The Serbian, ranked No 39 in the world, was forced to fight it out on Court One before securing a 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 victory and a clash with the world No 4. Murray, who came into this week's tournament playing down his chances of success after admitting he has done little on-court training since his defeat to Roger Federer in the Australian Open final, has faced Tipsarevic five times previously, losing twice.
The last time the two players met was at Roland Garros in the third round of the French Open, where the Serb pushed Murray to a tie-break before being forced to retire midway through the second set. Yesterday, in a hard-fought first set that went with serve, Tipsarevic won a love-game in the eighth only to then watch as the world No 45 Seppi immediately levelled with an ace in the ninth. The following game saw Seppi force a break-point, but his opponent saved it on his second serve and then, at advantage, closed out with an ace of his own.
Indeed, it was Tipsarevic's powerful, accurate serving that ultimately secured him the opening set. Having squared the tie with an ace in the 12th to ensure a tie-break, the popular 25-year-old hit three aces and required just one second serve as he claimed the upper hand. However, in the second set, Tipsarevic double-faulted at break-point to fall behind in the seventh game, and at 5-4 Seppi looked like pushing his opponent to a third set for the first time since 2006.
But Tipsarevic rallied to break back in the 10th before forcing deuce in the 12th and, after a series of energetic exchanges, won the vital point to set up a clash with Murray. @Email:gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
The specs
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Jigra
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
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Coming 2 America
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones
3/5 stars
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
Tomorrow 2021
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
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Company name: Marefa Digital
Based: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
Number of employees: seven
Sector: e-learning
Funding stage: Pre-seed funding of Dh1.5m in 2017 and an initial seed round of Dh2m in 2019
Investors: Friends and family
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Where to buy and try:
Nutritional yeast
Bulletproof coffee
Amasake
Charcoal drinks and dishes
Various juice bars, including Comptoir 102
Jackfruit
Supermarkets across the UAE
Saudi National Day
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Last-16 Europa League fixtures
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
Australia tour of Pakistan
March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi
March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi
March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore
March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi
March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi
April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi
April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi