Del Potro retires with wrist injury in Dubai first round

Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic returns the ball to Marius Copil of Romania during the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) (The Associated Press)

Second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro retired in his first-round match against Somdev Devvarman of India after losing the first-set tiebreaker 7-6 (3) at the Dubai Championships on Tuesday.

Del Potro's been struggling with a left wrist injury and was having difficulty coming over the ball on his backhand during the 67-minute set.

The Argentine had three set points at 0-40 on Devvarman's serve in the 12th game, but the 78th-ranked Indian won the next five points to force the tiebreaker.

Devvarman, who won a challenger last week in New Delhi, hit a service winner on his third set point in the tiebreaker. That proved to be the final point of the match.

Third-seeded Tomas Berdych extended his winning streak to eight matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Romanian qualifier Marius Copil.