Daniil Medvedev returned to action for the first time since his Australian final defeat on Tuesday with a straight sets win over Alexander Shevchenko in Dubai. The world number four got his title defence at the hardcourt ATP 500 event up and running, overcoming Shevchenko 6-3, 7-5. 

The Russian shrugged off his month-long absence, breaking his Kazakh opponent in three consecutive return games in the first set before reeling off four games in a row from 3-5 in the second set to complete an 88-minute triumph. He will meet either Lorenzo Sonego or wild card Sumit Nagal in the next round. In January, Medvedev reached his second Australian Open final.