All eight second-round matches will be played at the ATP Doha Open on Wednesday with the schedule including some absolute crackers. As always, we here at LWOT are offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Liam Broady vs Daniil Medvedev. But who will book their spot in the quarterfinals?
ATP Doha Day 3 Predictions
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Kwon Soon-woo
Head-to-head: first meeting
Kwon Soon-woo had his hands full with the 19-year-old ATP Tour debutant Abedallah Shelbayh, but once showed how much more mature he is this year. He’s been the in-form player of the two recently, although Alejandro Davidovich Fokina played very well in his dismissal of Constant Lestienne in the opening round. Kwon is playing with a ton of confidence at the moment and if he’s hitting well, his great aggressive shot-making could give him an advantage.
Prediction: Kwon in 3
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Roberto Bautista Agut vs Christopher O’Connell
Head-to-head: first meeting
Roberto Bautista Agut had to battle Marton Fucsovics for over three hours in round one. It was somewhat unexpected, because the Spaniard usually does extremely well on these courts (won the event in 2019 and 2022, finished runner-up in 2021). He’ll need to raise his level now, but he did get a pretty nice draw for his second round with Christopher O’Connell, for all his quality, hardly one of the more dangerous names in Doha. The 34-year-old looks like he might have declined a fair bit recently, but it’s hard not to trust in his Doha mastery to shine through.
Prediction: Bautista Agut in 3
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Andrey Rublev vs Tallon Griekspoor
Head-to-head: first meeting
Andrey Rublev suffered a pretty surprising exit to Alex de Minaur in Rotterdam. The Russian is actually yet to win a match in any other event but the Australian Open this year. This is not an easy draw at all with Tallon Griekspoor boasting an excellent 11-2 win/loss record so far in 2023 and looking like he’s going to be a top 30 player quite soon. It being Rublev’s first match of the tournament also isn’t going to help the Russian’s chances. The underdog is very live here.
Prediction: Griekspoor in 3
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Alexander Zverev vs Andy Murray
Head-to-head: Murray 3-1 Zverev
Quite the match, although neither player is even close to their peak at the moment. Alexander Zverev is slowly but steadily improving after missing the second half of the 2022 season with an ankle injury, while Andy Murray keeps impressing with his grit, but isn’t really a title contender anymore. The Briton scored another one of these impossible wins in the opening round with Lorenzo Sonego. The quality of that match wasn’t high though and Zverev is probably a slight favorite to take this one.
Prediction: Zverev in 3
Main photo credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
