Recent title winners Gael Monfils and Stefanos Tsitsipas are on a collision course for the Dubai semifinals. Standing in their ways on Thursday are a pair of surprising quarterfinalists in Ricardas Berankis and Hubert Hurkacz.
Gael Monfils vs. (Q) Ricardas Berankis
Monfils was an afterthought on tour heading into the 2019 campaign because of another injury-plagued season in the immediate rearview mirror, but his sudden resurgence has been of the biggest stories through two months. The 23rd-ranked Frenchman is sporting an 11-2 record with a semifinal showing in Sofia, a title in Rotterdam, and wins at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships over Marin Cilic and Marcos Baghdatis.
Next up for Monfils during quarterfinal action on Thursday is a second career contest against Berankis, who lost their only previous encounter 6-1, 6-3 on the clay courts of Bucharest five years ago. This run to the quarterfinals of a 500-point tournament has come completely out of nowhere for Berankis, who comes in at No. 113 in the world and had won just a single ATP-level match in 2019. The 28-year-old Lithuanian qualified for the main draw and parlayed that success into defeats of an on-fire Daniil Medvedev and Denis Kudla. Another victory may be one too much to ask of Berankis, who will likely overhit a lot of balls given the quality of Monfils’ defense.
Pick: Monfils in 2
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Hubert Hurkacz vs. (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Hurkacz’s run in Dubai has been similar to that of Berankis, with one favorable draw and one extremely tough opponent. The 22-year-old Pole, who just barely avoided qualification with a No. 77 ranking, opened with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of qualifier Corentin Moutet before stunning top-seeded Kei Nishikori 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 on Wednesday. Hurkacz had previously been just 1-4 on the main tour in 2019, although he captured a Challenger title during the Australian summer.
Tsitsipas and Hurkacz just faced each other last week in Marseille, where the 20-year-old Greek coasted 6-4, 6-2 during second-round action and ultimately won the event. He was one of the breakout stars in 2018 and is not looking back, with a 13-4 record this season that also includes a semifinal run at the Australian Open. Tsitsipas has advanced this week by taking out Matthew Ebden and Egor Gerasimov–the latter via a 6-3, 6-1 destruction. Hurkacz has found his game, but nothing suggests he can completely turn the tide from what transpired in Marseille.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 2
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Tsitsipas wins finally, after wasting energy playing another set. Well, I hope he beats Monfils next and become world no.10, reaching the final.
He really needs to learn to keep up the intensity throughout a match, if not, he has to spend additional energy when the match drags on unnecessarily – must learn to play smart and not subject his body to too much wear and tear if he wants a long successful career.
Just like Federer.But he’s still very young
Monfils will be tough to beat, Tsitsi is tired