Doha SF previews and picks: Ferrer vs. Karlovic, Berdych vs. Seppi

Ivo Karlovic will be back in Doha action one day after upsetting Novak Djokovic, as the 6’11” Croat is set to face David Ferrer. Tomas Berdych and Andreas Seppi are also part of semifinal Friday.

(7) Ivo Karlovic vs. (4) David Ferrer

Ferrer and Karlovic will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when they meet in the semifinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Friday. The head-to-head series (all on hard courts) stands at 3-1 in favor of Ferrer, who just recently downed the big-serving Croat 7-6(5), 6-4 last fall in the Vienna quarterfinals. Karlovic’s lone scalp of the Spaniard came at the 2011 Indian Wells Masters via a 7-6(3), 6-3 decision, which was preceded by Ferrer victories in 2007 and 2010.

Karlovic, of course, is coming off a 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-4 quarterfinal upset of Novak Djokovic. Thus continues a solid run of form for the 35-year-old, who has now guaranteed a top 24 seed at the Australian Open. Ferrer earned his place in the last four with a three-set win over Thiemo De Bakker followed by straight-set dominance of Fernando Verdasco and Dustin Brown. The fact that Djokovic had not seen Karlovic’s serve in a match situation since 2008 may not have helped, whereas Ferrer has had far more recent–and successful–experience against it.

Pick: Ferrer in 3

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(3) Tomas Berdych vs. Andreas Seppi

Seppi nearly bowed out of the tournament in the first round before overcoming Leonardo Mayer 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-6(4). The 45th-ranked Italian proceeded to capitalize on a favorable draw, seeing off Joao Souza and Ivan Dodig (Dodig had emerged from Rafael Nadal’s eighth of the bracket).

But this may be where the good luck ends for Seppi. He is 2-6 lifetime against Berdych, has not defeated the Czech since 2008, and has lost 10 consecutive sets in the head-to-head series with only two of those 10 going to tiebreakers. Berdych has been on a roll this week, destroying Denis Istomin, Blaz Kavcic, and Richard Gasquet. The No. 3 seed has held all 25 of his service games while being required to save only one break point.

Pick: Berdych in 2

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