Day 5 at the ATP event in Doha will feature the two semifinal matches. In the bottom half, logic prevailed and top seeds Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime making it to the last four; in the top half, however, we have two unseeded players facing each other, but both Andy Murray and Jiri Lehecka have already shown this year in Australia and here that their real level is far above their current ranking.
ATP Doha Semifinal Predictions
Andy Murray vs Jiri Lehecka
Head-to-head: first meeting
Both players showed some great stuff at the Australian Open and they continued their good form here this week. Lehecka had already beaten Norrie and Auger-Aliassime in Australia on his way to the quarterfinals and he got another big scalp here in Doha, beating the #1 seed Andrey Rublev. He’s looking poised to reach the top 20 soon or maybe even higher. Murray has been winning one epic after another this year; he has been on court for almost eight hours so far this week in Doha, but he still looks to have plenty left in the tank. Stylistically, he should have the tools to trouble the talented yet inexperienced Czech and might just pull off another epic win here.
Prediction: Murray in 3
Daniil Medvedev vs Felix Auger-Aliassime
Head-to-head: Medvedev 5-0 Auger-Aliassime
The pair faced off last week in Rotterdam, with Medvedev getting a routine fifth win in five matches between the two en route to winning the title. Given the history of their matchup, there’s not much reason to believe this will be all that different, but you have to figure Aliassime will eventually get a win in this matchup and Medvedev has been quite inconsistent with his level ever since that traumatic Australian Open final loss to Rafael Nadal. It’s definitely a much closer matchup than the head-to-head indicates, but you still have to favour Medvedev, who’s favorite to win a second title in two weeks here.
Prediction: Medevedev in 3
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
