The 2024 edition of the Dubai Tennis Championships enters the quarter-final stage as Daniil Medvedev takes on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Hubert Hurkacz faces Ugo Humbert. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 ATP Tour – ATP 500
Dubai Tennis Championships
Aviation Club Tennis Centre, Duba
Selected Quarterfinals- 29 February
Daniil Medvedev 19/100 | Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7/2
Aussie Open finalist Daniil Medvedev has been far from his imperious best in Dubai this week. The defending champion has been playing with a heavily strapped shoulder and maybe that can go someway to explaining his slightly subdued showing.
Alexander Shevchenko served for a set in his opening clash before Lorenzo Sonego actually claimed the opening set in their round of 16 clash. He only won a paltry 53% of his first-serve points in that first set against Sonego. But he rallied in the remainder of the match, finding more depth with his delivery and hitting crisper groundstrokes off both wings.
Medvedev has extended his Dubai winning streak to seven matches and improved his 2024 record to 8-1. I was actually worried that he could be vulnerable in the early stages here and I feel like he should grow a bit into the tournament now.
Victory in this tournament won’t be able to fully exorcise the demons of that Aussie Open capitulation. But it will help.
24-year-old Spainard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina exacted revenge on Qatar conqueror Jakub Mensik yesterday, with the explosive young Czech forced to withdraw from their round of 16 clash. The result means that Davidovich Fokina has reached his second quarterfinal of the season (the other being Marseille).
This has been a frustrating campaign for the unpredictable Spaniard. His opening-round victory over Marozsan broke a three-match losing streak dating back to his quarter-final run in Marseille. Davidovich Fokina- owner of one of the best drop-shots in world tennis- really rose to prominence with a herculean run to the Monte-Carlos Masters final in 2022.
He proved his Masters 1000 mettle once again in 2023, reaching the quarter-finals in Indian Wells prior to a brilliant semi-final showing in Toronto. But he is still yet to reach another ATP final following that shock Monte-Carlo result.
Verdict: Medvedev to win in three sets 11/4
Medvedev comfortably leads their head-to-head 3-0. However, two of those three matches have gone the distance. Medvedev hasn’t looked completely comfortable this week, being broken twice in each of his two previous matches. He has counterbalanced that with his usual ruthlessness on return.
Fokina is a dangerous player who often elevates his game on big occasions. He could nick a set off this incarnation of Medvedev but the Russian should have the consistency of shot to come through this clash.
Hubert Hurkacz 74/100 | Ugo Humbert 21/20
Current World No.8 Hubert Hurkacz has struggled in recent weeks to emulate his absolutely explosive 2023 form. The big-serving Pole really underlined his status as one of the premier hardcourt players in the world towards the end of last season, winning a second career Masters title in Shanghai prior to a run to the Basel final.
He started this year brilliantly, reaching the semi-final of the United Cup prior to a quarter-final run at the Aussie Open. But the Pole has looked somewhat indifferent since, comfortably losing to upcoming opponent Humbert in Marseille before a shock three-set defeat to Griekspoor in Rotterdam.
This week hasn’t been a picnic either, as he somehow overcame the statistically superior Struff in his opener before a more routine win over Aussie O’Connell. The Pole should be well suited to these quick surfaces.
He has an imposing serve that should be able to get him plenty of cheap points. He just has to work on maintaining that consistency throughout his performances. He should feel buoyed by the opportunity to overcome his Marseille conqueror: Ugo Humbert.
Humbert has really emerged as one of the breakout stars of the last six months or so. In fact, he owns a stunning 21-6 record since the start of last year’s Shanghai Masters (winning titles in Metz and Marseille in the process).
He has also reached the quarter-final stage in three of his last four events. The big-serving lefty has really worked hard to eradicate some of the sloppiness from his game and his movement has improved dramatically.
He was soundly beaten by Gael Monfils in Qatar last week and he will have been thrilled to avenge that defeat this time around, coming back from a set down in his opener to reassert his French No.1 status. He looked very polished against former World No.1 Andy Murray, losing just seven points on serve in a resounding straight-sets win against the struggling Scot.
Humbert serves big and loves to get to the net, making him an ideal candidate for success on these quick surfaces.
Verdict: Humbert to win in three 29/10
Despite Humbert’s victory in Marseille, the Pole still leads Humbert 3-1 in their head-to-head rivalry. I really think that Humbert has what it takes to make it back-to-back wins against the World No.8. The Pole clearly struggled with Humbert’s serve in Marseille and he also hasn’t looked in supreme touch this week.
