Doha top two seeds Stan Wawrinka and Andrey Rublev are in quarterfinal action on Thursday. Wawrinka is facing Aljaz Bedene, while Rublev is going up against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
(1) Stan Wawrinka vs. Aljaz Bedene
Doha top seed Stan Wawrinka has put in relatively minimal effort on court to earn his spot in the Doha quarterfinals. Thanks to a first-round bye, the Swiss man has played just one match so far this week. His round of 16 victory over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy was a routine straight-set affair.
Wawrinka, who has won three of the four Grand Slams in his career, has experienced a lengthy title drought over the past few years. Due to injury woes and a lengthy road back to fitness, he hasn’t won a title since 2017.
Aljaz Bedene has never won an ATP tour-level title. The Slovenian sits at No. 58 in the world, low enough that he is occasionally forced to come up through qualies. He closed out his 2019 season with a quarterfinal run in Vienna; he is likely to match that result in Doha.
While Wawrinka isn’t the force he was when he was pocketing majors, he’s still the prohibitive favorite against most lower-ranked players. And with his fixed on a completely attainable title, the Swiss will be plenty motivated to find his way into the semis.
Cheryl pick: Wawrinka in 2
Ricky pick: Wawrinka in 2
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(2) Andrey Rublev vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Rising Russian star Andrey Rublev wrapped up his 2019 season with a tournament win at home in Moscow. It was his second career title for the 22 year-old, and he started his 2020 season this week with an easy win over Mikhail Kukushkin in the round of 16.
Unlike Rublev, Pierre-Hugues Herbert–who is ranked 65th in the world– limped through the end of the 2019. Until this week, he had won exactly two matches since June. He had a pair of easy victories in the first two rounds in Doha over Marco Cecchinato and Laslo Djere, but an in-form Rublev is going to be a big ask for the Frenchman.
Cheryl pick: Rublev in 2
Ricky: Rublev in 2
[crowdsignal poll=10488192]
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