A relatively surprising Dubai final that lacks Novak Djokovic will instead pit Marcos Baghdatis against No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka on Saturday. In Acapulco, a red-hot Dominic Thiem will face Bernard Tomic.
Dubai: Marcos Baghdatis vs. (2) Stan Wawrinka
Wawrinka and Baghdatis will be going head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers when they battle for the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday. All five of their previous encounters have gone Wawrinka’s way, including three on outdoor hard courts. Their last completed match (Baghdatis retired at Queen’s Club in 2014) came three years ago in Kuala Lumpur, where Wawrinka prevailed 6-1, 7-5. Perhaps their most memorable showdown came at the 2012 Australian Open, although that made news as a result of Baghdatis’ racket-breaking skills as opposed to the actual tennis.
No such antics have been necessary this week for Baghdatis, who is through to his biggest final since Washington, D.C. in 2010. The 57th-ranked Cypriot has advanced this week with victories over Viktor Troicki, Vasek Pospisil, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Feliciano Lopez. Wawrinka’s road through the draw has not been entirely straightforward, as he was pushed to 7-5 in the third set by Sergiy Stakhovsky right off the bet. The second-seeded Swiss has since made simpler work of Franko Skugor, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Nick Kyrgios. A highly-anticipated rematch with Kyrgios ended prematurely when the Aussie retired with a back injury while trailing 6-4, 3-0. Wawrinka has not been at his very best this week or this entire year and the surface favors Baghdatis, so this one should be competitive. But the world No. 4 has a huge edge in recent experience with these kinds of pressure-packed finals and his firepower will likely be too much for Baghdatis in the crucial moments.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
[polldaddy poll=9325746]
Acapulco: (5) Bernard Tomic vs. (4) Dominic Thiem
Thiem will wrap up his impressive February swing in fitting fashion, with an appearance in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel title match. The 22-year-old lifted the Buenos Aires trophy earlier this month, upsetting Rafael Nadal in the process. He also reached the Rio de Janeiro semifinals before momentarily running out of gas against Guido Pella. Despite no rest and a change of surface, Thiem is up to his old tricks this week in Acapulco. The world No. 15 has taken out Damir Dzumhur, Dmitry Tursunov, Grigor Dimitrov, and Sam Querrey while surrendering only a single set to Tursunov.
Tomic is bouncing back nicely from early losses in Quito and Delray Beach. The 21st-ranked Australian looked like he was on his way out of Acapulco at the hands of Alexandr Dolgopolov on Friday, but he battled back from a slow start to get the job done 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. That was preceded by straight-set defeats of Rajeev Ram, Adrian Mannarino, and Illya Marchenko. Tomic has Davis Cup duty next weekend but he is now in Acapulco for the long haul so he has no reason to be disinterested–as he was in the opening set against Dolgopolov–since this is his last match of the week no matter what. But he even admitted that he wanted Querrey to win instead of Thiem. And why not? Thiem is absolutely on fire–and he will have plenty in the tank after getting rid of Querrey in a mere 57 minutes.
Pick: Thiem in 2
[polldaddy poll=9325755]
who ya got?
Baggy will put up a fight but WaWa has is eye on this title.
Wawrinka in 2
Thiem v Tomic could be entertaining if they both play their best tennis at the same time but Thiem is. looking imperious
Thiem in 2
Stan in straights and Thiem in three.
Both Wawrinka and Thiem in 3
Not a big Tomic fan.
WTA final in Acapulco is more appealing imo. Cibby v Sloane will be fun.
And Doha — Suarez-Navarro v Ostapenko. 900 points for the winner!
Stan in 3 sets.
Thiem in 2 sets.
I have a gut feeling that Baghdatis can stun Wawa. Baghdatis was especially impressive againt Bautista Augut. He played a clean and dominant match against a normally tough opponent. Ofcourse Stan is the more experience and better player but Baghdatis is playing this week as he got something to prove and he enjoys playing big matches (although he hast won many titles) and Wawa is not playing at his full potential.
^^He has always had the ability, and frequently does, stun his opponents. His problem: it rarely happens in finals other than 250 events whereas WaWa had the ability to raise his level. He is also well aware of the danger Baggy can present. He’ll be ready and waiting.
The curse of autocorrect WaWa HAS not HAD
Yeah, I agree that Baggy has a decent shot at winning this, been playing very well vs RBA and will have a lot of crowd support. But Wawarinka has gotten better as the tourney went on, but not really sure he’s playing his est.
I’ll say Baghdatis in 3
and then I think Thiem should win this easily
THiem in 2
Have yet to see Stanimal level from Stan. Baghdatis is playing better in this tournament than in other the ones I’ve seen play him recently. I’m happy either way – Stan or Marcos. Hoping for a good 3 sets of tennis.
Wawa in 2
He will be relaxed now that he has passed Kyrgios and will be playing well. Baggy stands no chance!
I think Thiem’s game is suitable for clay and he is gaining confidence…Thiem in 2
This is a hc though. Vamos Thiem!
I keep forgetting Acapulco isn’t clay – helps if I get to see a match this week and get that blue hc in my mind. Conditions during the day must have been harsh – 88 F with 70% humidity, feels like 95. It’s a little better at night, though. Which could help Tomic – hope not but…
Indian Wells is going to be hot this year, I think, but the humidity is 20% or below.
I’m not sure it will help. You never know they might have taken a leaf out of the Tiriac handbook and adopted blue clay ala Madrid 🙂
Yeah, meant so say playing good on clay has helped him gain confidence. I think he will be a real force in the upcoming clay events although able to play very well on hard to…good to have young guns on the tour who can make difference for a change…
When I think of Thiem, I think clay court because of his 3 titles on clay last year – now 4 titles, BA. Thiem is adorable – easy to like.
Bagman played great in that 3 setter against Lopez…was moving as well as I’ve ever seen him…he can take Stan at this time, in 3.Thiem red hot, as you said….he’ll take Tomic in straight.
The Theme is Domination
The Indomitable Theme. in 2 or 3.
Inevitable. He started so well but the scoreboard pressure got to him.
This second set of this Wawrinka match is the best set of tournament. Great stuff from both guys. I’m hoping it goes to 3 just because
… It would be awesome! 3 end changes alone in this Tiebreak 12-12
Great Championship Point! Baghdatis fought through the bitter end… Hard Court Title Number 2 for Stan this year!
Oh…was cheering for Marcos to get the 2nd set.
Stan the Man!
3rd set would have been hot
Whew. That was a good final. Baggy did himself proud. Wawa did what we expected but he was inconsistent and made rather too many UEs for comfort. He will need to up his level for the Masters.
As I predicted, Wawa played way better than against Kyrgios and won in 2! Baggy played nice veteran tennis..Gosh, they are the same age and I observe only Baggy as veteran in tennis…strange…Anyway this is good result for him! Who could think Baghdatis would play the final…
Stan is ancient
Match is on. 2-1 Tomic on serve. Tomic serving ahead. Dom to serve…
15-15. 15-30. Some nerves from Dom. 30-30. 30-40. break point for Bernie. And Bernie does it.
3-1 Bernie serving. 15-0. 30-0. 40-0. Bernie’s feeling it. 4-1.
Dom serving. second serve. Forehand into net.Another nervous forehand. 30-15. that’s better. 40-15. Good. 40-30 Bernie’s confident. But Dom holds. 4-2.
2 aces apiece.
Tomic 15-0, 30-0. 30-15. Second serve. 30-30. 40-30. second serve. But Tomic hits his backhand out. 5-2.
need a break
Meant Dom mis-hit a backhand wide – not Tomic.
Dom serving. 15-0. Ace. 30-0. Challenge is IN. 40-0. Easy hold. 5-3 Better serving from Dom.
Bernie at bat. 0-15. nice forehand Dom. Bernie misses a slice. 0-30. 0-40. 3 bps. It’s a love break. 5-4.
Dom to serve – can he hold?
Thiem just hitting hard and its not going to work against Tomic. Tomic is one like Murray, able to absorb pace and changes pace.
Thiem has to vary the way he plays, not just hard hitting.
Not really much of a tennis fan, but I’ve been watching the progress of Thiem, and to me, he is of a different class to Tomic, better serve, better movement, I just don’t see how Tomic can win this game
He won’t win
you are correct
Dom serving. 2nd serve ace. 15-0. and holds faster than I can type.
5-5.
Tomic serving. 15-0. Crowd is pro-Thiem, I’d say. 30-0. Backhand not working like it should Dom. 40-15. Commentators for Bernie. lol… 6-5
Dom serving to stay in the set.
15-0. Challenge Tomic. It’s in. 30-15. nice shot Bernie. 40-15. tie break!
1-0 Tomic. 1-1 all, but a challenge and it’s IN. 2-1. Bernie has one challenge remaining. Second serve BT. 2-2. Second serve. 3-2.
Dom serving. Dom hits a forehand wide. 4-2. Ace for Dom 4-3.
Tomic serving 5-3 ace or not. challenge. it’s in.
5-4. Dom serving. 5-5 beauty BH Thiem finally. Challenge and it’s long from Tomic. 5-6 Set Point Dom! But Dom hits it long.
6-6 Tom serving. 2nd set point Dom. 6-7. Dom makes it! 6-8
Agree with the commentator, Tomic was the better player in first set but Thiem barely edged him in the TB for the win. Tomic was stepping inside the court whilst Thiem was losing ground moving further from the baseline. Thiem’s serving helped him out too with so many aces.
Let’s see what Tomic is made of now…
more than we thought! (Thiem in 2 looked like it would happen)