Seeds Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev, and Karen Khachanov have made their ways into the Dubai quarterfinals. Djokovic is going up against Khachanov on Thursday, while Rublev faces Dan Evans.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (7) Karen Khachanov
Djokovic and Khachanov will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers when they battle for a quarterfinal spot at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in favor of Djokovic, who prevailed 6-3, 6-3 in the Davis Cup Finals last fall. Khachanov’s victory came via a 7-5, 6-4 upset in the 2018 Paris Masters title match. They had previously collided at Wimbledon that summer, when Djokovic dominated 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
To say it is hard to see Khachanov leveling up their record at 2-2 would be a gross understatement. Djokovic is a perfect 15-0 in 2020, with a team title at the ATP Cup, another Australian Open triumph, and straight-set blowouts of Malek Jaziri and Philipp Kohlschreiber so far this week. Khachanov has struggled this year, with a mediocre 7-5 record heading into Dubai. The 17th-ranked Russian has at least managed to dispose of Mikhail Kukushkin and Dennis Novak, but a massive step up in competition should bring about a swift end to his Dubai run.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 5-7 games
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(6) Andrey Rublev vs. Dan Evans
Rublev and Evans will be going head-to-head for the second time at the ATP level and for the second time this season. They just met last month in Adelaide, where Rublev got the job done 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on his way to the title. That was preceded one week earlier by a title in Doha, and the Russian is now 15-2 for his 2020 campaign (tied with Djokovic for the wins lead on tour). Well-rested thanks to a relatively modest February schedule, Rublev has advanced in Dubai with straight-set victories over Lorenzo Musetti and Filip Krajinovic.
Whereas the world No. 14 may have been fatigued in Adelaide, Evans might be dealing with some heavy legs this time around. The 37th-ranked Brit is also in fine form, but he needed a third-set tiebreaker to get past Pierre-Hugues Herbert in two hours and 46 minutes on Wednesday. Evans also battled Fabio Fognini for two hours and 39 minutes on Tuesday, scoring a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win. All signs point to Rublev taking care of business without too much trouble.
Pick: Rublev in 2
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WWW?
Djoko in two ,Rublev in three
My posts are not working for some reason.
That one did, but the rest are not.
Khachanov has really fallen off as a nextgen, not playing that well anymore, Nole gets this done quick 6-3, 6-4.
Evans has not played well here, Rublev takes it 6-3, 6-4.
Other Dubai picks: Tsitsipas over Struff in 3, Monfils over Gasquet in 2.
My post in the Acapulco match preview did not go through, so here it is:
Kecmanovic is playing pretty well so far this year, has wins over Humbert and now De Minaur, he should not be over awed by Nadal at all and will likely be going for it, will certainly be tougher than Andujar, so this match will not be so easy for Rafa, Rafa takes it 7-6, 6-4.
Edmund’s form is overrated, had a pretty sweet draw in New York, got the title cause Seppi was hurting, this is outdoors now too, Lopez is a pretty easy win nowadays, FAA had a better than expected match yesterday, FAA with enough in the tank to win in 3.
Today’s Dubai picks: Herbert over Evans, Tsitsipas over Bublik, Khachanov over Novak, Struff over Basilashvili, Paire over Gasquet, Monfils over Uchiyama.
Santiago picks: Delbonis over Caruso, Cuevas over Olivo, Dellien over Barrios Vera in 3, Ruud over Tabilo in 2.
Acapulco picks: Lajovic over Kwon in 3, Isner over Giron in 3, Zverev over Paul in 3, Humbert over Fritz in 2, Dimitrov over Mannarino in 2, Wawrinka over Martinez in 2.
Other Dubai picks: Tsitsipas over Struff in 3, Monfils over Gasquet in 2.
Dubai, Tsitsipas over Struff in 3, Monfils over Gasquet in 2.
A lot of my posts only appeared after a few days..
yeah i’m doing some maintenance
Joker in 2; Rublev red hot…in 2.