Doha QF previews and predictions: Federer vs. Basilashvili, Thiem vs. Bautista Agut

Roger Federer will continue his comeback tournament when he goes up against Nikoloz Basilashvili in the Doha quarterfinals on Thursday. Top seed Dominic Thiem and Roberto Bautista Agut are also aiming for a place in the semis.

Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. (2) Roger Federer

In terms of setting himself up for the remainder of the tournament, Federer’s debut match at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open probably couldn’t have gone any better. Playing for the first time in more than 13 months, the 39-year-old defeated Dan Evans 7-6(8), 3-6, 7-5 in a high-quality contest on Wednesday evening. Federer got two hours and 25 minutes of match practice on the court with his practice partner of two weeks (he and Evans had recently been training together) and looked good in the process.

Getting to face Basilashvili in the quarterfinals is even better news for the 20-time Grand Slam champion. Basilashvili has been a complete disaster for more than year now, but thanks to the rankings restructuring he is still No. 42 in the world. The Georgian’s quarterfinal appearance in Doha has come completely out of nowhere; he has capitalized on a favorable draw against John Millman and Malek Jaziri. Federer dominated their only previous encounter 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 at the 2016 Australian Open and something similar will likely transpire in this one.

Pick: Federer in 2

(1) Dominic Thiem vs. (5) Roberto Bautista Agut

Thiem and Bautsita Agut will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers on Thursday. Bautista Agut leads the head-to-head series 3-1, but they have faced each other only once since 2015 and Thiem took that encounter 6-4, 6-3 in the 2018 St. Petersburg semifinals.

Having taken off since then, the fourth-ranked Austrian is obviously a considerable favorite once again this time around. Thiem, the 2020 U.S. Open champion and two-time Nitto ATP Finals runner-up, has established himself as a force on hard courts. Doha’s No. 1 seed took care of Aussie Open semifinalist Aslan Karatsev 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday. Bautista Agut is through to the last eight following victories over Reilly Opelka and Alexander Bublik. This will be a much different kind of match for the 13th-ranked Spaniard, who has already been wildly up and down in 2020. It could be a roller-coaster contest, but Thiem should have too much firepower in the end.

Pick: Thiem in 3