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James Ward qualifies in Dubai but Heather Watson fails to make Qatar tournament

James Ward plays a forehand in his first round match against Fernando Verdasco during day two of the 2015 Australian Open
Image: James Ward: Will face Feliciano Lopez in Dubai

British No 2 James Ward has joined Andy Murray in the main draw at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship.

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Ward overcame Romania's Marius Copil in the final round of qualifying, but he had to dig deep before progressing 6-7 6-4 6-4.

Reward for his victory is a tough first round clash with sixth-seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain.

Murray, who is seeded three in Dubai, will take on Gilles Muller of Luxembourg to open his bid for his first ATP Tour title of the season.

The British No 1 is set to move back to third in the world on Monday after Rafael Nadal failed to make it past the semi-finals at the Rio Open.

But there was bad news at the WTA Tour Qatar Open where women's British No 1 Heather Watson failed to make it out of qualifying.

She thrashed wildcard Olla Mourad 6-1 6-0 but came unstuck against Saisai Zheng of China in the second round, going out 6-3 6-3.

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Watch live coverage of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Tournament all week on Sky Sports 3.

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