Federer Sinks in Dubai

World-renowned leading tennis star Roger Federer of Switzerland is a close friend of golf star Tiger Woods of the Untied States. They travel the globe to attend each other’s game. No one doubts their top international standings in their respective games.

However, these two similar characters are getting off to very different starts this season.

Woods has won three championships in a row this season -- two PGA titles and one EPGA championship. On the other hand, for the first time in three years and seven months, Woods’ tennis friend Federer was defeated in the first round of an ATP tournament.

Andy Murray of Great Britain pulled out a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Federer in the first round of the Dubai Championship, yesterday.

Federer, the winner of this championship in four of the last five years, was last beaten in the first round of a tournament back in August 2004 at the Cincinnati Masters Series to then 195th-ranked Slovak, Dominic Hrbaty.

At the Australian Open in late January, this year’s first major tournament, Federer lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Since then, he has failed to win any title. Though he has displayed some comebacks on the court, they have lacked the strength of previous years. Now, he has to wait until the next tournament to see if he can win his first championship of the season.

kjs0123@donga.com