updated 4:32 p.m. ET Feb. 27, 2007

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Roger Federer struggled to a first-round victory at the Dubai Open on Monday, the day he broke Jimmy Connors’ streak of consecutive weeks at No. 1.

Federer, who broke Connors’ 30-year-old mark with his 161st week at the top of the ATP rankings, defeated Kristian Pless 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3 after a monthlong break since winning the Australian Open.

Federer’s reign began more than three years ago, taking over No. 1 on Feb. 2, 2004, after winning his second career Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Federer said defeating Andy Roddick in the 2004 Wimbledon final was “a huge moment for me.”

“I raised my game at just the right time,” the Swiss star said during a conference call. “That’s one of the reasons I’ve been No. 1 for so long.”

Connors set his record from July 1974 to August 1977. Connors won eight Grand Slam titles in his career, which lasted more than 20 years.

“I haven’t heard anything from Jimmy,” Federer said, laughing. “I haven’t read any quotes. It’s a great record to break, he’s had it so long.”

Federer struggled against the 86th-ranked Pless, but extended his career-high winning streak to 37 matches.

“It’s always rough here for some reason,” said Federer, who won three straight Dubai Open titles before losing to Rafael Nadal in last year’s final. “It can happen sometimes when you have not played for a long time.”

In other matches, Tomas Berdych rallied to defeat Mohammed Al Ghareeb 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, and Tommy Robredo lost to Fabrice Santoro 7-6 (6), 6-4.

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The 25-year-old Federer considers Connors’ 109 titles an even bigger accomplishment. So far, Federer has 47.

“He played until he was 40,” Federer said. “That’s an incredible effort. He’s one of the great all-time tennis players.”

Federer has been relatively injury-free during his consecutive weeks at No. 1, with only a twisted ankle “about three or four years ago.” The 10-time Grand Slam champion takes a month off three times during the year — at the end of the season and after the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

“Scheduling has been a very important factor to my success,” Federer said. “It helps me to heal from injuries and mentally get away.”

Since taking over the No. 1 spot, Federer is 247-15 (.943) with 34 titles in 49 tournaments. He’s won six of the last seven Grand Slam titles.

Federer is fifth in the all-time list of most overall weeks at No. 1. Pete Sampras leads with 286 weeks, followed by Ivan Lendl with 270, Connors with 268 and John McEnroe with 170.

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