Dubai SF previews and predictions: Murray vs. Pouille, Verdasco vs. Haase

Andy Murray almost joined Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka on the Dubai sidelines on Thursday, but he managed to reach the semifinals for a Friday date with Lucas Pouille. Fernando Verdasco and Robin Haase are also in action.

(1) Andy Murray vs. (7) Lucas Pouille

Murray and Pouille will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they meet in the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday. All three previous encounters–all of which came last season–have gone Murray’s way; 6-2, 6-1 at the Rome Masters, 6-1, 6-3 at the Shanghai Masters, and 6-3, 6-0 at the Paris Masters.

It would be an understatement to say that another Murray-Pouille showdown almost did not come to fruition. In a memorable quarterfinal against Philipp Kohlschreiber on Thursday, the top-ranked Scot fought off seven match points during a 6-7(4), 7-6(18), 6-1 victory. The second-set tiebreaker alone lasted 31 minutes–longer than the entire Bernard Tomic vs. Jarkko Nieminen match three years ago in Miami. Pouille faced Evgeny Donskoy instead of Roger Federer on Thursday and held off the Russian qualifier 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(2). Thus continues a sudden turnaround for the 15th-ranked Frenchman, who started the year 1-3 but is since 6-1 with a runner-up showing in Marseille. Nonetheless, Murray clearly treated his first and second sets against Kohlschreiber as a wakeup call and his past dominance of Pouille is such that an upset is almost impossible to see in this one.

Pick: Murray in 2

[polldaddy poll=9678174]

Fernando Verdasco vs. Robin Haase

The seventh career encounter between Verdasco and Haase will be by far their most surprising. They have never faced each other in anything more prestigious than the quarterfinal of a 250-point tournament, but they now find themselves in the semis of a 500-point event. Although the head-to-head series is all tied up at three wins apiece, Verdasco has taken three of their last four contests. A pair of 2016 tilts went the way of the Spaniard, who got the job done on the red clay of Bucharest and the indoor hard courts of Paris without dropping a set.

Verdasco and Haase were two of five unseeded players in the Dubai quarterfinals, and now they are the last two such entrants remaining. The 35th-ranked Spaniard had been a disappointing 1-4 in his last five matches prior to this week, but he punched his ticket to the last four by taking out Andreas Seppi, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Gael Monfils. Haase has advanced with victories over Denis Istomin, Tomas Berdych, and Damir Dzumhur. Also coming out of nowhere, the 66th-ranked Dutchman had won multiple matches at only one of six tournaments this season prior to his arrival in Dubai. A slight edge goes to Verdasco, who has been a streaky performer throughout his productive career; he often goes off the boil, but when he’s hot he can be almost unplayable.

Pick: Verdasco in 3

[polldaddy poll=9679316]