Roger Federer: Swiss star discovers Dubai draw as he bids to win 100th career title
ROGER FEDERER will face German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Championships, which gets underway on Monday.
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Federer has not played since last month in the Australian Open when he was beaten by Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round.
But after a break, the Swiss star returns to action next week as the second seed in Dubai.
And his opening match on Monday or Tuesday is against Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Federer and Kohlschreiber, aged 37 and 35 respectively, have played each other 13 times with the Swiss winning on every occasion.
Other first round ties include Marin Cilic vs Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori vs Benoit Paire and Tomas Berdych and Aljaz Bedene.
The projected quarter-finals, according to seed, could see Federer play Raonic, Karen Khachanov vs Borna Coric, Nishikori vs Tsitsipas and Cilic vs Medvedev.
Federer’s honour roll in Dubai is considerable - he has the most titles (7), the most match wins (48) and became the oldest champion in 2015.
And if he reaches the final and wins next Saturday, it will be his 100th career title.
In the final last year, Roberto Bautista Agut beat Lucas Pouille 6-3 6-4.
DUBAI TOP HALF - FIRST ROUND
Nishikori - Paire
Hurkacz - Qualifier
Qualifier - Haase
Ebden - Tsitsipas
Cilic - Monfils
Safwat - Baghdatis
Berrettini - Kudla
Qualifier - Medvedev
DUBAI BOTTOM HALF - FIRST ROUND
Coric-Kukushkin
Berdych-Bedene
Bautista Agut-Ramanathan
Basilashvili-Khachanov
Raonic-Struff
Dzumhur-Fucsovics
Qualifier - Verdasco
Kohlschreiber-Federer