DOHA, December 31, 2016

Main draw ceremony of the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open took place on New Year’s Eve. Austria’s Gerald Melzer, German veteran Florian Mayer, Malek Jaziri of Tunisia and Russian Andrey Kuznetsov attended the event, held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha.

Gerald Melzer, Andrey Kuznetsov, Malek Jaziri and Florian Mayer

Jaziri will face the tournament’s number seven Philipp Kohlschreiber. The World No. 58 from Tunisia is still waiting to gain his first win over the German. Kohlschreiber leads 3-0 in head-to-head records. The last meeting betwen the two took place in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Melzer will square off with Paul-Henri Mathieu. The only previous meeting between the two was won by the Frenchman in the first round of the 2016 German Open in Hamburg.

Kuznetsov opens against fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and Florian Mayer will play Argentine Horacio Zeballos in the opening round.

Top Seeds Arrive In The Desert

Serbian tennis star and second seed of the ATP 250 tournament, Novak Djokovic arrived in Doha on Saturday early morning to begin at the Khalifa tennis and squash complex on Monday against German Jan-Lennard Struff. The pair will meet for the first time.

Upon his arrival in Doha, Novak said: “I’m very excited to be here in Doha to participate in the 2016 Qatar ExxonMobil Open. I’m also very excited to begin my new season with such a special event.” 

The defending champion and also current holder of Roland Garros heads a strong field at the Qatar Open which also includes World No. 1 Andy Murray, who finished third at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The Briton will start his Doha campaign against Jeremy Chardy from France, leading 8-1 in head-to-head records.

Abu Dhabi’s runner-up David Goffin, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the final, is seeded fourth and he will take on Robin Haase from the Netherlands. Doha’s number three Tomas Berdych will face a qualifier.

Photo Gallery Main Draw Ceremony Doha: (photos by Brigitte Urban)