Dubai, February 27:

Roger Federer struggled to a first-round victory at the Dubai Open on Monday, the day he broke Jimmy Connors’ streak of consecutive weeks at No 1.

Federer, who broke Connors’ 30-year-old mark with his 161st successive week at the top of the ATP rankings, defeated Kristian Pless of Denmark 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3 after a monthlong break since winning the Australian Open.

The 25-year-old Federer considers Connors’ 109 titles an even bigger accomplishment. So far, Federer has 47.

Federer struggled against the 86th-ranked Pless, but extended his career-high winning streak to 37 matches. Federer won three straight Dubai Open titles before losing to Rafael Nadal in last year’s final.

In other matches, sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych rallied to defeat Mohammed Al Ghareeb of Kuwait 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, and fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo lost to French veteran Fabrice Santoro 7-6 (6), 6-4.

Qatar Open

DOHA: Sixth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia beat Catalina Castano of Colombia 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the second round of the Qatar Open.

Sania Mirza of India beat Romina Oprandi of Italy 6-4, 6-3. “Although I made some mistakes, especially while at the net, I am happy that my first match went pretty well,” Mirza said.

Eighth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-4 in another first-round match, while Mara Santangelo also advanced after defeating Sandra Kloesol of Germany 6-3, 7-6 (4).