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AAP
Sport
Nick Spencer

O'Connell through to face Zverev in Dubai

Chris O'Connell will play Germany's Alex Zverev after victory over Emil Ruusuvuori. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Aussie qualifier Chris O'Connell has made it through to the second round of the Dubai Open by beating Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5 6-4.

The victory means Sydney's O'Connell will next play Germany's Alexander Zverev, the No.7 seed.

O'Connell, 28, took a grip on the match when he broke in the 11th game of the first set and then held to take it 7-5.

Although O'Connell, the world No.92, is ranked almost 40 places below his Finnish opponent, he served an impressive 11 aces and dropped serve just once on his way to victory.

The win follows a good showing last week in Doha, where he was edged out in three sets by the current world No.7 Daniil Medvedev.

Zverev fought back from a set down to beat Czech Jiri Lehecka in three.

Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Novak Djokovic all made it through on Tuesday but the world No.1 had to rely on a tiebreaker to beat world No.130 Tomas Machac, of the Czech Republic, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-1).

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