Dimitrov loses to Lehecka in Doha on his return to competition

Grigor Dimitrov is back! The Bulgarian, who has struggled physically in recent months, played his first match on the main circuit for a month at the ATP 500 tournament in Doha.

Forced to retire against Passaro in the first round of the Australian Open due to hip pain, the former world number 3 had his first major test in Qatar.

Facing Jiri Lehecka, against whom Dimitrov had withdrawn in the Brisbane semi-finals earlier in the season, the Bulgarian had the chance to exact his revenge.

The first restart was encouraging, as the 33-year-old, ranked 15th in the world, had two break points, but failed to convert them.

Well into the match, the 23-year-old Czech was solid on his face-offs (8 aces, 0 double faults, 2 break points saved out of 3) and finally closed out the match in two sets (6-4, 6-4 in 1h15 of play).

For his first official match since January 13, Dimitrov was keen to get back into the swing of things.

In fine form at the start of the season, Lehecka, who retired from his duel with Hubert Hurkacz in Rotterdam two weeks ago, is now physically fit again, and will meet the winner of the match between Fabian Marozsan and Aziz Dougaz in the Round of 16.