Doha

The five ATP 250 level hard court stops in the run-up to the Australian Open saw five different players claim titles and find form during the first portion of the 2019 season. Here is your look at all of January’s ATP action.

ATP Doha

Embed from Getty Images

Roberto Bautista Agut claimed a 9th career ATP title defeating Tomas Berdych 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the final, after stunning world #1 Novak Djokovic 3-6 7-6(6) 6-4 in the semifinals, one of the best wins of his career. The Spaniard also claimed wins against Matteo Berrettini, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and Stan Wawrinka.

It was a great comeback tournament for Berdych who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, Fernando Verdasco, Pierre Hugues Herbert and Marco Cecchinato. David Goffin and Herbert won the doubles title over Haase/Middelkoop.

ATP Chennai

Embed from Getty Images

Kevin Anderson is a dark horse for the Australian Open title and he was the player to beat in India, capturing the Chennai title 7-6 6-7 7-6 over fellow big serving veteran Ivo Karlovic. Gilles Simon, Jaume Munar, and Laslo Djere also fell to Anderson as he didn’t drop a set until the final. Karlovic, the oldest top level player on tour, defeated Felix Auger Aliassime, Evgeny Donskoy, Ernests Gulbis, and Steve Darcis, a veteran on the comeback trail.

Home heroes Bopanna and Sharan defeated Bambridge/O’Mara in the doubles final.

ATP Brisbane

Embed from Getty Images

Kei Nishikori came through as the favorite in Brisbane, defeating rising Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-4 3-6 6-2 in the final. Nishikori didn’t drop a set prior to the final, racking up wins against Denis Kudla, Grigor Dimitrov, and Jeremy Chardy. Medvedev’s path to the final was defeating Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, three capable and crafty veterans.

Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof beat Ram/Salisbury in the doubles final.

ATP Sydney

Embed from Getty Images

Sydney native Alex De Minaur triumphed at home for his maiden ATP title. The Demon edged tour veteran Andreas Seppi 7-5 7-6 for his 5th straight match win. ADM defeated Dusan Lajovic, Reilly Opelka, Jordan Thompson, and Gilles Simon to reach the final, he didn’t drop a set all week.

The veteran Seppi was happy to find form in what was a challenging tournament for him. Jeremy Chardy, Martin Klizan, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Diego Schwartzman were his victims on the week in some nip and tuck matches.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares defeated the Colombians Cabal/Farah in the doubles final.

ATP Auckland

Embed from Getty Images

Tennys Sandgren has a lot of points to defend in Melbourne, but he enters the AO in great form after claiming his first career ATP title. Sandgren won Auckland without dropping a set this week. Sandgren blitzed past Cam Norrie who grew up in Auckland. Max Marterer, Marco Cecchinato, Leonardo Mayer, and Philipp Kohlschreiber were all defeated by Sandgren.

Norrie defeated Benoit Paire, Joao Sousa, Taylor Fritz and J.L. Struff to reach the final. Ben McLachlan/ Jan-Lennard Struff defeated Klaasen/Venus in the doubles final.

Advertisements

Veterans Djokovic, Berdych, and Wawrinka Contesting 2019 ATP Doha
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The 2019 ATP 250 in Doha, Qatar has Novak Djokovic as the star attraction (including a pairing with brother Marko for doubles), but resurgent veterans Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych are still gunning for the title and have advanced to the quarterfinals. What will the rest of the tournament hold?

Quarters

Novak Djokovic vs Nikoloz Basilashvili

Embed from Getty Images

Both of the seeds advanced to the quarterfinals, with world #1 Djokovic heavily favored against Georgian #1 Basilashvili. Both players have dropped sets this week, with Djokovic’s lost set to Marton Fucsovics a massive surprise. Presuming he’s motivated Djokovic should be too good in this matchup though, after beating Damir Dzumhur and Fucsovics. Basilashvili defeated Albert Ramos and Andrey Rublev.

Stan Wawrinka vs Roberto Bautista Agut

Embed from Getty Images

Tennis fans would love to see a revitalized Wawrinka making waves on tour. The Swiss veteran has a great shot against steady baseliner Bautista Agut after he upset Karen Khachanov in straights and followed that upset with a win against Nicolas Jarry. RBA has been solid, dropping just 5 games in each match (wins against Matteo Berrettini and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez). Wawrinka should be highly motivated though and I have a feeling he’ll rise to the occasion and notch an upset.

Dusan Lajovic vs Marco Cecchinato

Embed from Getty Images

Wins against Adrian Mannarino and Ricardas Berankis have lifted Lajovic to the quarters while Marco Cecchinato eased past Sergiy Stakhovsky and then got a walkover into the quarters. Cecchinato is still learning the ropes on hard courts, and though he’s very talented, Lajovic should have a slight edge.

Tomas Berdych vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert

Embed from Getty Images

Both of these players have been disappointing lately, Berdych has been injured and considered retirement, but now he’s come back and earned wins against crafty veterans Philipp Kohlschreiber and Fernando Verdasco. PHH hopes to improve as a singles player this year and a stunning win against a listless Dominic Thiem, followed up by a three set tiebreak win against Max Marterer, will give him a lot of confidence heading into this matchup. Berdych is hard to read right now but he should be favored if he’s fit.

Projected Semifinals
Djokovic d. Wawrinka
Berdych d. Lajovic

This is Djokovic’s title to lose, but if he loses interest Wawrinka or RBA will benefit. I expect Berdych to make a run to the final at this point and fall just short, in what would be a huge result for him.

Projected Final
Djokovic d. Berdych

Frenchmen Simon and Monfils Start 2018 With ATP Titles
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Brisbane

Nick Kyrgios claimed ATP title #4 and his first ever in Australia defeating Ryan Harrison 6-4 6-2. Kyrgios overcame questions about the fitness of his leg early in the week, he needed three sets against Matt Ebden, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Grigor Dimitrov. Despite the shaky start, Kyrhios improved as the week went on and really pressed the gas pedal when he needed it to start the season. Kyrgios continues to be a player of much promise, and now he heads to the Australian Open brimming with confidence, back in the ATP top 20, and hopefully fit.

Harrison continued his resurgence at age 25, he dropped sets against Leo Mayer and Yannick Hanfmann but won the third set with ease in both matches, then he defeated Denis Istomin and surging young Aussie Alex De Minaur, winning that match in three sets by taking a second set tiebreak and a 6-4 3rd set. Harrison reached 2 ATP finals last season and he’s already halfway to that number in the first week of 2018.

Henri Kontinen and Australia’s own John Peers beat Leo Mayer/Horacio Zeballos in the doubles final.

ATP Doha

Gael Monfils won his first title since 2016 with a comprehensive 6-2 6-3 victory against young gun Andrey Rublev in the Doha final. Monfils got a walkover in the semis against Dominic Thiem, and despite dropping sets to Paolo Lorenzi and J.L. Struff, he seemed to kick the cobwebs off his game pretty quickly, defeating Peter Gojowczyk in straights in the quarters and then taking it to Rublev, who’s shotmaking was erratic when it mattered most. Monfils only made one final last year so he’s already matched that in 2018.

Rublev reached a second career ATP final and picked up 2018 where he left off in 2017. The young Russian found his range against Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Fernando Verdasco, Borna Coric, and Guido Pella, winning tough matches against both Verdasco and Pella. He’s now a trendy dark horse at the Australian Open.

Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic beat Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares in the doubles final.

ATP Pune

33 year old Gilles Simon turned back the clock and had his best week on tour in quite some time, taking home the title in Pune 7-6 6-2 over in-form South African Kevin Anderson. It’s Simon’s first title since 2015 and gives him renewed hope and confidence in his tennis after winning just 16 matches last year. Simon beat Tennys Sandgren, Roberto Bautista Agut, Ricardo Lara, and top seed Marin Cilic, that semifinal win coming in three sets as he was a brick wall against Cilic’s powerful groundstrokes.

Simon isn’t the most exciting player to watch, but he was impenetrable against some big hitters, Anderson being one of them. Kev beat Thiago Monteiro, Mikhail Kukushkin, and Benoit Paire, dropping sets to Kukushkin and Paire but still reaching the final. It’s Anderson’s first final since last year’s US Open.

Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Simon in the doubles final, denying Simon a coveted double title result.

2018 ATP Doha Preview and Predictions: Next Gen Stars Thiem, Coric, Rublev Lead Weakened Doha Field
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The ATP 250 in Doha on hard courts to start the season is normally the ritziest 250 on tour but with most notably Novak Djokovic’s absence it plays host to one of the weaker fields it’s had in recent memory. ATP Next Gen stars Dominic Thiem, Borna Coric, and Andrey Rublev are presented with a great chance to make a run. Here is your full preview, with predictions.

Top Half:

Having cemented himself in the top 5, Thiem leads the Doha field and will open with Evgeny Donskoy. Thiem needs to focus on keep himself fresher in 2018, and he’s also going to be playing with a target on his back all season. That said, he has the game to put away Donskoy and either Malek Jaziri or Aljaz Bedene, Jaziri tends to step up his play in the Middle East, Bedene, who is back representing Slovenia, had a great 2017 though and should be opposite Thiem, falling in round 2.

French veteran Richard Gasquet opens with one of the oldest players on tour, Victor Estrella, he’ll then get another young gun in this draw, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, or veteran Florian Mayer in round 2. The Greek won 4 matches on the main tour last year and will be looking for a big scalp to start the season, that said Gasquet is good enough when fit I have him defeating everyone into the semifinals, including Thiem in the battle of backhands.

Embed from Getty Images

Another veteran hoping for a good 2018 is Tomas Berdych, the Czech won 35 matches but hoisted no titles in 2017 was forgotten for much of the season. He’s better than J.L. Struff, and either Paolo Lorenzi or wild card Gael Monfils though. Monfils had yet another season derailed by injury last year, shutting down after the US Open, he hopes to be fit to start 2018.

Serbia’s Viktor Troicki faces ATP debutante Matteo Berrettini, while his countryman Filip Krajinovic takes on Peter Gojowczyk. Krajinovic had an incredible 2017 winning 71 matches in total (only 5 on the main tour) and reaching the ATP Paris Masters final. After tearing up the challenger tour look for Krajinovic to rise defeating Troicki and Berdych to reach the semifinals.

Embed from Getty Images

Bottom Half:

Pablo Carreno Busta had a career year in 2017 but it still doesn’t seem like he’s appreciated enough. PCB has transformed into an all court performer, but despite his top 10 ranking he’s an underdog against Coric in his opening match. Coric is a talent but posted a below .500 tour record in 2017, PCB should defeat Coric and either Nikoloz Basilashvili or Thomas Fabbiano to reach the quarterfinals.

Russia’s young gun Rublev is my choice to reach the semifinals, Rublev just beat PCB in Abu Dhabi and his path is Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, then a veteran, either Fernando Verdasco or Dudi Sela, before facing PCB or Coric in the quarters (most likely).

The section with Albert Ramos as the highest seed is the weakest part of this draw, Ramos faces Guido Pella in a toss-up contest, Spanish veterans Feliciano Lopez and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will square off, qualifier’s Mirza Basic and Stefano Travaglia are favored against Andreas Haider Maurer and local wild card Jabor Al-Mutawa respectively. Lopez did not have a great year last year but he still should be favored to survive and reach the quarters where he should defeat Ramos.

Embed from Getty Images

Predictions

Semis
Gasquet d. Krajinovic
Rublev d. Lopez

Embed from Getty Images

I’ll take Gasquet’s guile and shotmaking to take home the Doha title over the young gun Rublev, this is a pretty open field so anything could happen, but look for this contingent to get off to a good 2018.

Final
Gasquet d. Rublev

2017 WTA Doha Preview, Predictions #Qatar_Total_Open

Posted by Admin on February 12, 2017

Posted in: ATP, Doha, Niall Clarke, WTA. Tagged: 2017, agnieszka radwanska, angelique kerber, doha, Garbine Muguruza, Karolina Pliskova, picks, predictions, preview, Womens Tennis, wta. Leave a comment

2017 WTA Doha Preview, Predictions
Niall Clarke, Tennis Atlantic

qatar-total-open

The WTA resumes normal duty after the Fed Cup with the Qatar Total Open. Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova are the top two seeds of a stacked field. Here is a run down of the draw for the upcoming Premier event

Top Quarter:

kerber-2016

Kerber came into 2017 as the defending Australian Open Champion and World number one. She was the best player in the world last season, but her poor start to 2017 has seen her slip to second in the rankings. Her fight to claw back to that illustrious position starts in Doha where she will receive a first round bye. The top seed will face wither Irina Begu or Daria Kasatkina in the second round to kick off her tournament. Kasatkina stunned Kerber in Sydney earlier in the season, so the German will be gunning for revenge should they meet in Doha. Timea Bacsinszky comes into Doha off the back of a long Fed Cup weekend against the French. The Swiss faces the in form St.Petersburg runner-up Yulia Putintseva in the first round, a match that could provide an early upset. Monica Puig or Laura Seigemund will meet the winner. It could very well be that the seventh seed exits early, leaving the door open to a surprise quarter finalist. Putintseva’s recent form makes her the favourite if Bacsinszky should fall. Kerber vs Kasatkina will be close but I see the German edging into the quarter finals and beyond.

Prediction: Kerber def. Putintseva

Second Quarter:

Radwanska Doha 2016

Agnieszka Radwanska looks to kick off some good form this week in Doha. The Pole has not enjoyed the best of start to her season, but her form could change with a title here. Like the other top seeds, she receives an opening round bye, but her tournament could start with a blockbuster clash with Caroline Wozniacki in round two. The Dane leads 9-6 in their head to head, but Radwanska won their last match comfortably. The bottom half of this section has two qualifiers as first round opponents for Roberta Vinci and Elena Vesnina. It is likely they will meet in the second round with Vesnina holding the 5-3 head to head advantage. With Radwanska having won their previous two meetings, it is likely she will face Vesnina in the quarter finals. The Pole should be too tricky for the Russian and will go on to meet Kerber in the semi finals.

Prediction: Radwanska def. Vesnina

Third Quarter:

Dominika Cibulkova headlines the third section as the third seeded player in the draw and one of the tournament favourites. The Slovak also has a bye into the second round where she will likely face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. This will be a heavy hitting affair, but Cibulkova has the advantage of being the higher ranked player and winning the head to head. Barbora Strycova is another player who is coming off a busy Fed Cup weekend and she enters Doha as the eighth seed. The Czech faces a local wildcard in round one before meeting either Sam Stosur or Anastasija Sevastova in round two, both tough tests in very different ways. That said it is difficult to see past Strycova setting up a clash with Cibulkova in the quarter finals. Interestingly, for two players who have been at the top of the game for a long time, they have only met once which Cibulkova won in three sets. It is a good clash of styles, but I expect the Slovak to edge it

Prediction: Cibulkova def. Strycova

Fourth Quarter:

pliskova-2016

Karolina Pliskova enters Doha as the favourite to the take home the title. She is the most in form of the top players, but she has a tough draw ahead of her. After an opening round bye, she could face Caroline Garcia in the second round. The Frenchwoman holds an head to head advantage over the Czech, but Garcia could easily lose to her qualifier opponent in round one. Garbine Muguruza has not reached the heights of her French Open win last year, but a good run in Doha will go a long way towards re-capturing that form. She has a good draw to the quarter finals with Cagla Buyukakcay in the opening round, then Shuai Zheng or Timea Babos in the second. It looks good for a Pliskova vs Muguruza quarter final where the Czech has been dominant. Garcia could upset the odds, but it is likely Pliskova advances to the final four.

Prediction: Pliskova def. Muguruza

Semi Finals:

Radwanska def. Kerber

Pliskova def. Cibulkova

Radwanska vs Kerber is one of those matches that could go either way. They are both primarily counter-punchers, but Radwanska offers slightly more variety and that could be the difference. Pliskova vs Cibulkova will offer a different style of match as they will trade blows. Pliskova is the more consistent of the two and has the better serve.

Final:

Pliskova def. Radwanska

There is something about Pliskova that screams that she will have a big year in 2017, and I believe she will add another title to her collection in Doha.

Djokovic, Dimitrov, and Bautista Agut Start 2017 As Champions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Doha

Novak Djokovic claimed his second consecutive, and second overall Doha title in a nip and tuck 6-3 5-7 6-4 victory over world #1 Andy Murray. Djokovic showed he’s going to make a push for the world #1 early this season in his comprehensive victory over Murray. The new knight Murray played well in the match, but faltered late, and proved it’s still difficult for him to defeat Djokovic when the Serbian is at his best.

Djokovic’s path to the title featured routine wins over J.L. Struff, Horacio Zeballos, and Radek Stepanek. Fernando Verdasco was his semifinal opponent and gave the Serbian all he could handle. Djokovic was a set down and faced five match points in the second set tiebreak before capturing it and going on to win the third set. Verdasco’s weaknesses mentally in clutch situations let him down once again.

Murray showed he’s still a cut above the rest of the ATP tour, posting wins over Jeremy Chardy, Gerald Melzer, Nicolas Almagro, and Tomas Berdych without dropping a set. Murray had a few signs of rust, but he looks healthy and focused as his next stop will be Melbourne, where he’s often the bridesmaid, but never the bride.

Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin beat Vasek Pospisil and Radek Stepanek for the doubles trophy.

ATP Brisbane

Grigor Dimitrov won his first ATP title in three years as the 25 year old defeated Kei Nishikori 6-2 2-6 6-3 in a fantastic singles final. Dimitrov played his best tennis in well over a year as he was firing accurately from both wings and pushing the Japanese #1 around for much of the match. Dimitrov returned well to get his breaks when needed, and maintained his high level of play in the clutch moments of the match.

Dimitrov also defeated top 10 players Dominic Thiem and Milos Raonic in his quarterfinal and semifinal matches respectively for his best results in years. He also defeated Steve Johnson and Nicolas Mahut in early round action.

Nishikori for his part got off to a solid start, defeating Jared Donaldson, Jordan Thompson, and Stan Wawrinka before falling in the final. Wawrinka was disappointing in his semifinal match, while Nishikori showed he’ll be a dark horse threat in Melbourne.

For Dimitrov, a renewed push for the ATP top 10 will be in order if he can maintain this high level of play. He’s certainly not an opponent anyone wants to draw at the Australian Open.

Australian young guns Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jordan Thompson eased past Sam Querrey and Gilles Muller in the doubles final, to the delight of the local crowd.

ATP Chennai

Roberto Bautista Agut earned his fifth career ATP title with a 6-3 6-4 victory over young gun Daniil Medvedev, who at age 20 was taking part in his first ever ATP final. RBA was one of the tournament favorites from the start, and he got off to a hot start, easing past Rogerio Dutra Silva. In round 2 Mikhail Youzhny was in control, a set and a double break ahead, but Youzhny suffered an epic collapse and RBA won in three sets, going on to defeat Benoit Paire in straights in the semifinals.

The young Medvedev made the best of a favorable draw, defeating Thiago Monteiro, Rendy Lu, and Jozef Kovalik without dropping a set. He then came back from a set down to score a close victory over veteran Dudi Sela. After starting 2016 on the futures tour, you’ll certainly be seeing more of this young Russian on the ATP tour in 2017.

Indian pairing Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan defeated Purav Raja and Divij Sharan in an all Indian doubles final at India’s only ATP World Tour tournament.

2017 ATP Doha Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The other top tier 250 this week takes place in Doha, Qatar, where three top 10 players make their Aussie Open preparations. Here is a preview, with predictions.

Qatar ExxonMobil Open
ATP World Tour 250
Doha, Qatar
January 2-7, 2017
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $1,237,190

Top 4 seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Andy Murray (1)
2: Novak Djokovic (2)
3: Tomas Berdych (10)
4: David Goffin (11)

The world’s top two have decided to start their 2017 seasons in Qatar, as this is once again a lucrative and strong 250.

First round matches to watch:

Malek Jaziri vs. (7)Philipp Kohlschreiber

A match between a pair of veterans. Kohli is 3-0 in his career against the local favorite Jaziri but the German had a disappointing year on hard courts going just 9-8 on the surface in 2016. Jaziri reached the top 60, in large part due to his strong results at the challenger level. The Tunisian went 27-15 on hard courts and would love an upset win to start his year. Kohli is the clear favorite though.

Andrey Kuznetsov vs. (5)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Kuznetsov posted a career best 29-21 record in 2016 and reached the ATP top 50. The now 31 year old Tsonga went 38-17, including a solid 19-9 hard court record. Tsonga should be in good enough form and fitness heading into this matchup to defeat the Russian with aggressive play, but this still not an easy first round matchup.

Top Half:

World #1 Andy Murray, newly knighted, started his season in Abu Dhabi at an exhibition, and will open with veteran Jeremy Chardy, who he has a great h2h with, in round 1, with the Kohlschreiber/Jaziri winner likely in the quarters. dirtballer Gerald Melzer opens with veteran Paul-Henri Mathieu, while two more veterans, Nicolas Almagro and Paolo Lorenzi are also in this section. Almagro is 4-0 in the h2h against Lorenzi, but the Italian had a career year in 2016, making huge strides on hard courts. This isn’t a difficult section for Murray, who likely slides past Kohlschreiber to reach the semifinals.

The Tsonga/Kuznetsov winner will get Facundo Bagnis or shotmaker Dustin Brown in round 2, Tsonga should be safe to advance until he runs into Tomas Berdych in the quarters. Berdych opens with qualifier Alessandro Giannessi, a 26 year old with limited ATP experience. His Czech counterpart Jiri Vesely should follow in round 2, as wild card Anil Yuksel is making his ATP main draw debut. The 23 year old Vesely remains a talent but he was a rather pedestrian 21-20 at the tour level last year. Berdych went 40-21, with 22 of those wins coming on outdoor hard courts in 2016. Berdych leads Tsonga 8-2 in the h2h, and should be the favorite to reach the semifinals.

Bottom Half:

Novak Djokovic went 67-9 in 2016, despite his great successes on the season, he surrendered the world #1 ranking at the end of the season, and now has something to fight for in 2017. Djokovic’s early path is routine as Jan-Lennard Struff, and Horacio Zeballos/Florian Mayer aren’t likely to be more than hitting partners for the Serbian. Marcos Baghdatis has a 2-1 h2h against fellow veteran Radek Stepanek. Stepanek came through qualifying and their match should be fun to watch if you’re a fan of attacking tennis. Baghdatis went 26-23 in 2016, while Stepanek, now 38, went 33-15 overall, with a majority of his wins coming on the challenger tour level. Baghdatis is favored to win in round 1, with qualifier Mohamed Safwat or wild card Arthur De Greef to follow. The 26 year old Safwat has limited ATP experience while De Greef is playing just his third career ATP match at age 24. De Greef prefers clay, so Safwat should fall to Baghdatis in round 2, with Djokovic winning his quarterfinal against Baghdatis.

David Goffin looks hungry to renew his success in 2017 after a 51-25 record in 2016. Goffin should ease past Robin Haase in round 1, with either Fernando Verdasco or qualifier Vasek Pospisil to follow. Pospisil had a terrible 2016, going just 9-22 at the tour level, and thus his ranking his dropped outside of the top 100. Verdasco went just 29-26 for his part in 2016, but should be slightly better than Pospisil to start the season. Goffin over Verdasco is my pick to reach the quarters. Veteran Ivo Karlovic, now 37, went 32-24 in 2016, while his first round opponent Illya Marchenko broke through at the ATP level in 2016 posting a 26-28 record overall. Karlovic’s serve should be enough to get him past his round 1 match, and into the quarters after he defeats 20 year old Karen Khachanov, who opens with local wild card Mubarak Shannan Zayid. Khachanov reached the ATP level in 2016 with a 50-27 record overall. Goffin over Karlovic is my pick for the quarters.

Dark Horse: Karen Khachanov

Goffin, Djokovic, Murray, and Berdych/Tsonga look safe to reach the semifinals, but of those four spots, Goffin is the most vulnerable to an upset. Khachanov made big strides in 2016 and Karlovic is beatable if his first serve percentage is off. Getting past Karlovic and Goffin won’t be an easy path, but perhaps the Russian can make some headlines to start the season.

Predictions

Semis
Murray d. Berdych
Djokovic d. Goffin

It’d be an unlikely result if the world #1 and #2 fail to reach an ATP final to start the season, as they prepare for the Aussie Open.

Final
Murray d. Djokovic

Murray triumphed over Djokovic late in 2016, and for now I have to predict that momentum will continue in this tough to predict matchup.

Tennis Atlantic

Because Matches Are Never Played in the Media Tent

Run Up to Australian Open Sees De Minaur and Nishikori Claim Titles

Veterans Djokovic, Berdych, and Wawrinka Contesting 2019 ATP Doha @QatarTennis

Frenchmen Simon and Monfils Start 2018 With ATP Titles

2018 @QatarTennis Preview and Predictions: Next-Gen Stars Thiem, Coric, Rublev Lead Weakened Doha Field

2017 WTA Doha Preview, Predictions #Qatar_Total_Open

Djokovic, Dimitrov, and Bautista Agut Start 2017 as Champions

2017 ATP Doha Preview and Predictions (@QatarTennis)

Our Tweets

Blogroll

Like Us On Facebook

Most Read Posts This Week

SWIG Flasks: Mans’ Best Friend

Get Tennis Atlantic Served To Your Inbox

Tennis Live Scores 24/7 on Flashscore.com