Andrey Rublev has been an escape artist so far in Dubai and he will try to keep his run going against Botic van de Zandschulp on Thursday. Alexander Zverev and Lorenzo Sonego are also battling for a place in the semifinals.
Botic van de Zandschulp vs. (2) Andrey Rublev
In the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against Filip Krajinovic, Rublev recovered from a 5-2 deficit in the first set to win 11 of the next 13 games en route to a 7-5, 6-2 victory. “It was crazy,” the sixth-ranked Russian said afternoon. Well, things got a whole lot crazier for him on Wednesday. Rublev was down quintuple match point with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina leading 6-1 in the second-set tiebreaker, but the defending champion somehow stormed back to triumph 1-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(3).
What will Rublev do for an encore? In the quarterfinals on Thursday he hopes to avenge two setbacks against Van de Zandschulp in their two previous encounters–1-6, 6-4, 6-3 for the Dutchman in 2017 Rotterdam qualifying action and 6-3, 6-4 in the 2021 St. Petersburg quarters. Van de Zandschulp has advanced so far this week by beating Karen Khachanov in straight sets and Mikael Ymer in three. With both players in solid but unspectacular form, Rublev should be able to capitalize on his second–or even third–life in Dubai and keep his title defense alive.
Pick: Rublev in 2
(7) Alexander Zverev vs. Lorenzo Sonego
Zverev and Sonego will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Thursday. Their only previous meeting came two years ago on the red clay of Monte-Carlo, where Zverev cruised 6-3, 6-3. Sonego should like his chances a lot more in the rematch, as Zverev obviously isn’t in peak shape right now. The 25-year-old German is down at 16th in the rankings after missing the second half of last season because of the nasty ankle injury he sustained at the French Open. Zverev has defeated Jiri Lehecka and Christopher O’Connell in Dubai, but he is still just 5-6 for his 2023 campaign.
Sonego is also 5-6, but he doesn’t have any bad losses (to Daniil Medvedev, Jack Draper, Hubert Hurkacz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Andy Murray–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker last week in Doha from three match points up). The 67th-ranked Italian got another rough draw in Dubai but avenged his Rotterdam loss to Auger-Aliassime by upsetting the Canadian 7-6(4), 6-4 on Wednesday. Sonego served at 79 percent and won 89 percent of his first-serve points. If he serves like that again, an upset could be in he cards.
Pick: Sonego in 3
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