Dubai QF previews and predictions: Sinner vs. Hurkacz, Rublev vs. McDonald

Good friends and familiar foes Jannik Sinner and Hubert Hurkacz will meet again on Thursday, this time in the Dubai quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev will look to keep his Middle East hot streak going against Mackenzie McDonald.

(5) Hubert Hurkacz vs. (4) Jannik Sinner

It will be a rematch of the 2021 Miami Open final when Sinner and Hurkacz square off in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday. They have already faced each other once since Hurkacz captured that surprise Masters 1000 title, as Sinner gained at least some measure of revenge by dominating 6-2, 6-2 at the Nitto ATP Finals.

You have to think their third meeting will be more along the lines of what transpired in Turin a few months ago. After all, Sinner has a significant edge in form at the moment. The 10th-ranked Italian is 9-1 this season with a quarterfinal performance at the Australian Open followed by Dubai victories over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Andy Murray. Hurkacz has defeated Alexander Bublik and Alex Molcan in routine fashion, but this is a steep step up in competition for a player who had lost three of his previous five matches and had only one top 100 win in 2022 prior to this week. Sinner should roll, just as he did against Murray on Wednesday.

Pick: Sinner in 2

Mackenzie McDonald vs. (2) Andrey Rublev

Although Rublev has established him as a consistent top-10 force on tour in general, at no time is he more dangerous than at the start of the season. The seventh-ranked Russian won two titles in the first month of 2020, went title-semi-semi in Rotterdam, Doha, and Dubai last year, and he just lifted another winner’s trophy in Marseille–which was preceded by a semifinal effort in Rotterdam. Showing no signs of slowing down, Rublev has advanced in Dubai with defeats of Dan Evans and Soonwoo Kwon.

Up next for the No. 2 seed on Thursday is McDonald, who won their only previous encounter at the 2019 Australian Open in four sets. Of course, that was before Rublev became the player that he is today. McDonald is also in solid form, and he has evened up his 2022 record at 6-6 with Dubai victories over defending champion Aslan Karatsev and Filip Krajinovic. The 61st-ranked American will provide a decent test, but he is 1-9 lifetime against top-10 opponents–only beating an injured Juan Martin Del Potro three years ago in Delray Beach. It’s hard to see McDonald stopping Rublev right now.

Pick: Rublev in 2