It’s a good docket in Dubai on Wednesday, as Sebastian Korda takes on Botic van de Zandschulp and Jakub Mensik battles Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Spots in the quarterfinals of this ATP 500 are at stake.
Sebastian Korda vs. Botic van de Zandschulp
Korda’s start to the 2024 season has been a mixed bag. The world No. 33 performed well in Adelaide but bowed out of the Australian Open after running into Andrey Rublev in the third round. He is currently 7-5 (including his first-round win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships over Pavel Kotov). Korda crashed out of Rotterdam two weeks ago in the first round against Alex de Minaur.
Korda has had some difficulty with Van de Zandschulp in the past. The two men last met back in 2022 and the Dutchman gave Korda a shellacking at the Rome Masters, but since then Van de Zandschulp has seen his ranking slip considerably. Although the world No. 75 sat at a career-high of 22nd in the world in August of 2022, he has won just four total matches so far in 2024.
Korda should be playing well enough to find his way into the quarterfinals in Dubai. Van de Zandschulp beat No. 6 seed Adrian Mannarino in the first round, an upset win for certain, but there is little to suggest that he will do it twice in a row.
Cheryl pick: Korda in 2
Ricky pick: Korda in 2
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(SE) Jakub Mensik vs. (8) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
If this matchup seems familiar to you, it’s because you just saw it a week ago in Doha–where Mensik had his ATP tour breakthrough and made a run all the way to the final. Davidovich Fokina ran into an inspired Mensik in the first round last week and the Czech pulled off an upset in straight sets.
While it’s tempting to give Mensik the nod again given how well the 18-year-old has been playing, he must be getting tired. He rushed to Dubai from the Doha final. Mesik did manage a three-set win over Borna Coric in the first round, but it came in a third-set tiebreaker and fatigue is bound to push it’s way into Mensik’s week. Although Davidovich Fokina has been a bit out of form so far in 2024, it feels like a revenge victory is in the cards.
Cheryl pick: Davidovich Fokina in 3
Ricky pick: Mensik in 2
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