Dubai R1 previews and predictions: Auger-Aliassime vs. Cressy, Djokovic vs. Machac

Novak Djokovic and Felix Auger-Aliassime will get their Dubai campaigns underway as the first round wraps up on Tuesday. Djokovic opens with Tomas Machac, while Auger-Aliassime faces Maxime Cressy.

Maxime Cressy vs. (4) Felix Auger-Aliassime

Auger-Aliassime and Cressy will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday afternoon. Their only previous encounter came last summer at Wimbledon, where Cressy prevailed 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(9), 7-6(5). Although Dubai conditions also suit Cressy’s game, Auger-Aliassime will be happy to contest this matchup on a hard court as opposed to grass. It’s not as easy to implement serve and volley tactics–especially not against a returner of Auger-Aliassime’s quality.

Both players have been up and down already in 2023. Auger-Aliassime has already played once in the Middle East and produced a decent enough result in Doha, reaching the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev. Cressy is coming from the indoor hard courts of Europe, so his preparation wasn’t quite as ideal. This should be a good opportunity for Auger-Aliassime to get a measure of revenge and begin another successful week in the Middle East.

Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 2

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(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (Q) Tomas Machac

Djokovic is playing his first tournament since the Australian Open and probably his last until the clay-court swing. His motivation level should be high, especially because he is a five-time champion in Dubai but lost in the quarterfinals last year to Jiri Vesely. The top-ranked Serb will want to make amends for that surprising result.

Up first for Djokovic on Tuesday is Machac, who did well to qualify for the main draw. The 22-year-old Czech earned his spot in the field of 32 by beating Marton Fucsovics and Matteo Arnaldi–the latter via a 6-0, 6-1 beatdown. Of course, this is a massive step up in competition. Machac hasn’t won a main-draw match at an ATP-level tournament this season and he has never defeated anyone ranked better than 25th. Aside from that one win over Dan Evans, he has not beaten anyone else in the top 50. Djokovic should have absolutely no trouble on Tuesday.

Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 5-7 games

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