Losers and fellow Russians Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov will bid for places in the quarterfinals in Dubai on Wednesday. They will face Ugo Humbert and Jenson Brooksby, respectively.
(5) Andrey Rublev vs. Ugo Humbert
Rublev was unceremoniously knocked out of the 2024 Duty Free Tennis Championships in the semi-finals, but for the most part his memories of the Middle East are fond. The 18th-ranked Russian is 17-5 in Dubai with a title shot in 2022 and a run in second place in 2023. He is also 19-6 all-time in Doha with two titles and a semifinal appearance last week (he lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz). Rublev’s strong form continued with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Valentin Royer on Tuesday, thus setting up a seventh match against Humbert.
The head-to-head series stands at 4-2 in Rublev’s favor (3-2 on the grand tour). Incredibly, they have never split since their three-way clash in 2023 – where Rublev won Indian Wells and Shanghai to match Humbert’s third tiebreaker success in Beijing. The 37th-ranked Frenchman is 5-5 in his last 10 matches, but did well to defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-5 in the opening round of Dubai. Rublev is in top form and usually wins this event (at least when he doesn’t misbehave), so the fifth seed should have the upper hand.
Select: Rublev in 3
Jenson Brooksby vs. (7) Karen Khachanov
Khachanov and Brooksby will meet for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. They split their last two matches, with Brooksby going down 6-0, 6-3 at the Indian Wells Masters before Khachanov won 6-3, 6-3 this past summer in Cincinnati.
Surprisingly, Brooksby played in Dallas to start the month and then chose to swing in the Middle East against Delray Beach and Acapulco. So far it has not been successful, as the American player ranked 49th was defeated immediately in Doha by Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-3 as his losing streak extended to four matches. Brooksby stopped it by beating Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 on Monday, but Khachanov is a much tougher opponent. The Russian comes in 16th in the rankings after advancing to the quarters last week in Doha, where he pushed champion Carlos Alcaraz to three sets.
Pick: Khachanov at 3
