A jam-packed order of play on Tuesday in Doha is headlined by No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic and No. 4 Daniil Medvedev. They have intriguing first-round showdowns on their hands with Matteo Berrettini and Karen Khachanov.
(3) Novak Djokovic vs. Matteo Berrettini
Djokovic and Berrettini will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers when they battle in round one of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Tuesday. They have not faced each other since 2021, when Djokovic beat Berrettini at the French Open, Wimbledon (final), and U.S. Open all in four sets. The Serb also prevailed 6-2, 6-1 at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals, so he has won all four of their previous encounters.
It’s hard to see Berrettini turning the tide in Doha unless Djokovic lacks motivation at an ATP 500 tournament. Otherwise, this should be one-way traffic for the 37-year-old. He is 15-2 lifetime at this event with two titles. Berrettini is unseeded at No. 35 in the world and has a 1-3 record so far this season, with losses to Jordan Thompson, Holger Rune, and Tallon Griekspoor plus a win only over Cameron Norrie at the Australian Open. The Italian’s struggles are likely to continue with a terrible draw in Doha.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
Karen Khachanov vs. (4) Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev is in full-on crisis mode right now. Just when it looked like the 29-year-old Russian would pick up some momentum with a pair of victories last week in Marseille, he got blown out by Hamad Medjedovic in the semifinals. Medvedev is a modest 4-3 this season with no wins over anyone ranked better than No. 46. Dating back to last year he is 5-7 in his last 12 matches.
Up first for Medvedev is an eighth contest against Khachanov, who trails the head-to-head series 5-2. On the bright side for the lower-ranked Russian (No. 21), he won their most recent showdown 6-3, 7-5 last spring in Monte-Carlo. That was on clay, which favors Khachanov, but at the moment it hardly seems to matter what surface Medvedev is on–his game is all over the place regardless of the setting. Khachanov is the defending champion in Doha, so his confidence will be high and he should have a great chance to pull off an upset.
Pick: Khachanov in 3
WWW?