Alexei Popyrin has completed his half of the deal in the prospective Dubai desert duel with Alex de Minaur.
The Australian No.2 dismissed Lebanese wildcard Hady Habib 6-2 6-4 in 65 minutes in the first round at the Dubai Open, setting him up to play the national No.1 in the second round, as long as de Minaur sees off Croatian veteran Marin Cilic on Tuesday.
Popyrin raced to a 4-0 lead against Habib on Monday, dropping one point on his serve and showing no signs of the nerves that might have been expected given his last Tour-level win was in October - albeit that was against former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in the Paris Masters.
Habib, ranked 141 places below Popyrin at No.168 in the world, did manage to get his serve firing to make his mark on the scoresheet, but the Aussie wrapped up the opening set in just 26 minutes.
The Sydneysider was then forced to a deuce point in his opening second-set service game, but survived and immediately broke Habib to put a stranglehold on the match. Popyrin then only conceded three points in four service games as he eased to victory.
Injury and illness have hampered the 25-year-old's start to 2025, but he will be hoping to square the ledger against de Minaur at 2-2, having lost their most recent clash on clay in Monte Carlo last year.
First de Minaur needs to beat 36-year-old former US Open champion Cilic.
The third Australian in the draw, qualifier Chris O'Connell, faces a tough start against sixth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday.
Other first-round winners on Monday included Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, and rising French star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
