Roger Federer will take the court in Dubai on Monday against German veteran Philipp Kohlschrieber. It’s the first tournament since his round of 16 ouster in Melbourne. Karen Khachanov and Nikoloz Basilashvili are also in action.
(2) Roger Federer vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber
To say that this has been an unfavorable matchup for Philipp Kohlschreiber would be badly understating the case. He played Roger Federer 13 times since 2005 on indoor hard courts, clay, grass,and outdoor hard courts; he currently stands at 0-13. It’s not that Kohlschreiber is a poor player. Indeed, at age 35 he is still ranked 33rd in the world, with a semifinal in Auckland to show for his efforts in 2019. His main problem is that Federer does everything he does, only better.
Federer endured a disappointing start to the year. As the defending Australian Open champion, he suffered a fourth-round upset loss to eventual semifinalist Stefanos Tsitsipas and now finds himself ranked No. 7 in the world. Thanks to his long and successful history against Kohlschreiber, there should be little danger of an early upset at Federer’s “home” tournament (he lives in Dubai). However, their most recent match (last year in Rotterdam) was a close affair, with Federer winning 7-6(8), 7-5, so it could still be entertaining.
Cheryl pick: Federer in 3
Ricky pick: Federer in 2
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(4) Karen Khachanov vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili
Given his breakthrough success in 2018, Karen Khachanov has suffered a poor start to the 2019 season. For example, the Russian slumped to a bizarre first-round loss in Rotterdam at the hands of Tallon Griekspoor–a Dutch player ranked 211th in the world. He also crashed out in the third round at the Australian Open to inspired Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
Nikoloz Basilashvili’s ranking sits at a career-high 20th in the world–still not enough to get seeded in Dubai. The Georgian won a couple titles in 2018, though he hasn’t gotten close to a final in 2019 yet.
This has the makings of a tasty opening match, provided Khachanov plays anywhere near what he is capable of. If he puts in a showing like he did in Rotterdam a few weeks ago, Basilashvili will run away with the match and nab the upset.
Cheryl pick: Basilashvili in 3
Ricky pick: Basilashvili in 3
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Fed and Basi in 2.
Federer a poor start to the year? By his standards, yes, but look at this way, the only sets he lost were tiebreaks , to in-form Tsitsipas.
Hard to predict a winner , but Dubai suits him and its his 100th title so he’ll be especially motivated .
Yes, I just meant that round of 16 is Federer-poor considering he was the defending champ.
Dubai doesn’t really have tons of top-ranked guys. It wouldn’t surprise me if Fed got 100.
I picked him,but he says himself that Dubai is much slower than it used to be,so won’t suit him as well
Fed in 2; Knov in 3.
Kohls might get his first win over Federer at long last! Poor Federer – and I usually never pick him to win but I picked him to win Dubai, because his 100th tile, as Big Al mentioned.
Can Kohls hold on and not get too nervous?
100th title – I meant
Well, Hatch got destroyed which I wasn’t necessarily expecting, but Kohli executes his script flawlessly. Fed one stop closer to 100.
Yep, Kohls followed the script.
But surely Verdasco won’t follow the script again.
Took me a long time, had to figure out who hatch is, Cheryl 😀 Just now got it. Yeah he’s yet to find his best this year – I went with Basil.
I picked Basil too – I just thought KK would get a set. Yeah I think of him as Hatch. Lol.