Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will continue their Doha campaigns during second-round action on Wednesday. They are going up against Fernando Verdasco and Robin Haase, respectively.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Fernando Verdasco
Djokovic turned in a well-documented dominant 2015 campaign in which he won three Grand Slams and finished it off in style with a triumph at the World Tour Finals. His encore performance in 2016 got off to an expected start at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Monday at the expense of Dustin Brown. The world No. 1 cruised past the German qualifier 6-2, 6-2 in a mere 51 minutes.
Verdasco also got the job done in straight sets in his first-rounder, but it was far more interesting affair. The 49th-ranked Spaniard fought off Malek Jaziri 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in one hour and 56 minutes on Tuesday night. Verdasco will not have much recovery time before facing Djokovic for the 12th time in his career on Wednesday afternoon. The 32-year-old is an extremely respectable 4-7 lifetime in this head-to-head series, but he last defeated Djokovic in 2010. They most recently squared off at the 2015 Australian Open, where Djokovic cruised 7-6(8), 6-3, 6-4. The underdog can be somewhat competitive in this one if he serves like he did against Jaziri (12 aces, no double-faults, 74 percent of first serves in play), but Djokovic should advance without too much trouble.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 5-7 games
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Robin Haase vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Haase will be going head-to-head for just the second time in their careers when they meet again on Wednesday in Doha. Their only previous encounter came six years ago at Wimbledon, where Nadal survived a second-round thriller 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 on his way to the title. Speaking of final sets, both Nadal and Haase needed them in their Doha openers. Haase overcame qualifier Aslan Karatsev 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 on Monday, while the Spaniard battled past countryman Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday.
Recovering from a dismal first eight months of last season, Nadal picked up the pace in the fall–a stretch that included an undefeated performance during World Tour Finals round-robin action. The world No. 5 also won the Abu Dhabi exhibition event last week. Haase registers at 66th in the rankings after compiling a mediocre 15-21 record at the ATP level last season. This should be a more straightforward affair for Nadal than what he endured in round one.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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augusta, shhh… hawkeye is a doctor of philosophy from sm U. He is working on another thesis which would dazzle the world with outrageous theories supported by new fallacies created and used by the great sm scholar. Some of the fallacies are hawkeye’s 2 tier fallacy, hawkeye’s complex fallacy of post hoc, fake authority and missing the point…..he is ably supported by hm…his brilliance boggles the mind and has led to large scale migration of his followers to cuckoo land…
You’ve been drinking.
Reading your thesis…
Like I said, you’re the Dean.
Besides, while you’ve mastered SM arguments, you obviously have no idea what they are LOL.
Nadal said that for the first time, he felt the fear of not being able to play tennis and pointed out the mental challenge that had kept him from being the 14-time Grand Slam winner that he is. “For the first time in my career I went on the court with ‘fear of failure,’” Nadal said, reports Tennis World USA. “Not of losing, but of not being able to play.”
http://www.ibtimes.com.au/rafael-nadal-reveals-fear-failure-first-time-career-1495484
This is what an anxiety order is. It is anxiety to the point that it significantly affects your performance. It caused most of his losses last year and as Rafa said, he was worried about not even being able to go on court.
That’s how bad it got for Mardy Fish.
The armchair doctor is constantly making huge efforts to deliver diagnoses – AT 3:49 PM. LOL