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
[polldaddy poll=9258449]
who ya got?
Nole losing five or less.
same as Ricky. Nole in 2 sets. Verdasco to get 5-7 sets.
Rafa in 2
forgot to do Nadal games
but given that he lost a set to PCB, this poll works
Oh geez…Verdasco gets 5-7 games not sets! I need coffee!!
Rafa in 2, Verdasco , if Djokovic doesn’t show up
Haha
You mean like if he doesn’t show up like to the match right. Because if he showed up and played bad he would still win lol.
phenomenal point
True LOL!
Same picks as you by the way
Basic question
Rafa who was playing reasonably well in Abu Dabhi, stepping inside the court and hitting BH DTL and even FH DTL, CC..why was he not stepping into the court on his FH much here? Why did he resort to older patterns of play again at many moments in the match? Rafa needs to commit to hug the baseline continuously.
Mental problem. Nothing new.
Be focused, be confident, be strong, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CYBogFhUwAASKRR.png
Passed your message on to Benny.
Hopefully he can get it to Rafa.
^^ LOL 🙂
Mental problem AT 12:28 PM.
Exactly glad you finally agree.
If Benny gets your message to Rafa to be focused and confident, it will solve his mental problem of anxiety for good!
I don’t know why nobody has thought of your idea until now.
Very insightful.
Thus speaks hawkeye respected Alumnus of SM University
You are the Dean.
#RTIB
#Twenty16
The dean is an administrator but you are a graduate! And you graduated summa cum laude!!! Respect!!!
Mental problem at 5:06 PM.
Is anyone watching the Rafa match?
Yes
Nole wins losing just four games.
Congrats to Me, Hawkstradamus!
(commies to Nostradimus)
It appears that Novak is ready to go for the first tournament of the new year.
Thanks for the update. No surprise there!
Hawkstradamus…oh that’s good. Why didn’t I think of it – damm. Ratsra…Rickstra…
How’s about Nostrajalep? 🙂
shh, please. yikes.
Rafa won the 1st set. Just watching live scores. Got to go now. Hope vr and luckystar are watching and will give their analysis later. vr focuses on what Rafa’s doing right, Lucky on what he is not doing right. Between the two of them, they give us a good analysis!
VR and Lucky R da Best!!!
(HM to NNY)
Just for the record, could you provide any evidence of analysis done by the hm?
hawkeye is grateful for the support hm gives him when he himself is not certain what is his point. She drives away all who question his argument by regally expressing total contempt for logic!!! I suppose that is why the curious case of analyst hm. Mutual back scratching???
hawkeye,
Thanks again! Appreciate your support! I wonder why vr and lucky aren’t here also doing some live blogging.
I just checked the score online and saw that Rafa won the first set 6-3. I am trying to get on tennistv to watch the rest of it.
unreal shot by Haase
Wish that I could see it.
BP saved
Finally the video came up on tennistv. Rafa is up a break leading 3-1. At least I will see the rest of the match.
Rafa is hitting his DTL forehand really well. He’s stepping into the court and taking the ball early. Another great DTL forehand on Haase’s serve. Rafa now has two break points!
Haase held on to his serve. Rafa still up a break.
Rafa is also hitting his DTL backhand really well. He’s looking sharp with his groundstrokes, controlling the baseline in rallies.
Wicked backhand shot by Haase to make it 30-all.
Rafa, hold your serve!
Nice one-two combination with the wide out serve and then a forehand to finish it off. Rafa holds serve!
Rafa has a chance again 15-30 on Haase’s serve. Another break would be nice to close this out.