Tomas Berdych has admitted that he had to work hard to beat Jeremy Chardy in the opening round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The fourth seed, who lost last year's final to Roger Federer, saw off the Frenchman 7-6(2) 6-4 on Tuesday.
Berdych will now face Simone Bolelli for a spot in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
"I made it complicated a bit more than usual," the Czech told the ATP's official website. "But it's important that I won the last point of the match and got through it. Not every day is going to be perfect. It was a solid day to make."
Berdych is currently in eighth place in the ATP rankings.
