The Qatar Open continues this week as Daniil Medvedev faces Karen Khachanov while Stefanos Tsitsipas goes up against Hamad Medjedovic in the round of 32. Damien Kayat previews.
2025 ATP Tour – ATP 500
Qatar Open
Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex
Selected RO32 matches – 19 February
Daniil Medvedev 43/100 | Karen Khachanov 18/10
This promises to be an exciting all-Russian clash, pitting the last two Qatar champs against each other. Former World No.1 Daniil Medvedev – by his illustrious standards – has had a terrible start to the season.
He went out early in Melbourne and Rotterdam (ousted by qualifiers on both occasions). He even hinted at early retirement in the aftermath of that Rotterdam exit.
He fared better in Marseille last week, embracing the quicker conditions to reach the semifinals. He was poor in his semifinal clash with Medjedovic, slumping to a 6-3, 6-2 defeat off the back of an inefficient serving display. The 2023 Qatar champ is well suited to these medium-paced conditions.
The courts aren’t electric, allowing his defensive prowess to rise to the fore. He just needs to find some better rhythm on his serve this week. I also think it would behove him to move his court position slightly forward this week (even if conditions aren’t brisk).
He occasionally put himself behind the eight-ball with absurdly deep court positioning.
Fellow Russian Karen Khachanov has also enjoyed a somewhat miserable start to his 2025 campaign. The defending Qatar champion has only won two of his five matches this year (both of which coming in his 3rd round run at the Aussie Open). He failed to make any impression in Marseille last week, going down to Medjedovic (who also conquered Medvedev) in his first-round clash.
The defending Qatar champ will look to draw on some positive muscle memory to reignite his flagging form. He actually showed some decent form towards the end of last season, reaching two finals in October (winning in Almaty and finishing runner-up in Vienna).
He also ended a run of poor Masters 1000 results with a highly creditable semifinal run at the Paris Masters. So, there is certainly plenty of great tennis left in there.
The Verdict: Medvedev to win in straight sets 21/20
Medvedev leads the head-to-head 5-2. Khachanov won their most recent meeting, triumphing 6-3, 7-5 when they met at last year’s Monte Carlo Masters.
However, you have to go all the way back to 2018 to find a Khachanov solo hardcourt win over Medvedev. I think Medvedev should win this handily. The courts aren’t super quick and will put more of an onus on defensive abilities. Medvedev should be able to get the upper hand in the extended exchanges.
Stefanos Tsitsipas 43/100 | Hamad Medjedovic 7/4
Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas has endured a poor start to the season, bringing a 3-3 record into this event. To put that into context, he is yet to play a player ranked inside the top 40 this season. He lost to Alex Michelson in the first round of the Aussie Open and was defeated by World No.92 Mattia Belluci in Rotterdam.
His clay-court form has really kept his ranking afloat in recent seasons. He won in Monte Carlo last year and also finished runner-up in Barcelona.
He hasn’t reached a hardcourt final since the 2023 Los Cabos Open (which would have seemed impossible when he hit a career-high ranking of 4th a few years back).
That single-handed backhand has just been brutally exposed on the quicker surfaces. These Qatar surfaces are hardly lightning-paced and he may be able to implement his gameplan a bit more effectively.
20-year-old Serb Hamad Medjedovic could be a dangerous proposition this week. The 2023 NextGen Finals winner has been in excellent form dating back to the end of last season.
He reached a Challenger final in September and would go on to reach his maiden ATP Tour final in November (he lost to Shapovalov in the Belgrade Open final).
He never competed at this year’s Aussie Open but would go on to win a Challenger event in Oeiras. He once again converted solid Challenger form into meaningful tour-level success, reaching the final of last week’s Open 13 (where he accounted for the Russian pair of Medvedev and Khachanov).
He has an uncomplicated style, relying on a megawatt serve and crunching groundstrokes (particularly on that forehand wing). But will be able to shake off his Marseille hangover in time?
The Verdict: Medjedovic to win in three sets 48/10
Tsitsipas leads the head-to-head 1-0, beating the Serb in straight sets on the Gstaad clay last season. This one has upset written all over it. Tsitsipas is playing with very little confidence, losing to lower-ranked players consistently.
The 20-year-old Serb is clearly starting to find his feet and his hard-hitting style could hurry Tsitsipas into errors (especially on that notoriously weak backhand wing).
