Day 3 at ATP Dubai Tennis Championships will see the entire second round, including some of the top names in tennis. Novak Djokovic takes the court after a first-round struggle. How will he do on Wednesday? Do you think he’ll win? As always, we here at LWOT predict all of the matches. We split the day’s matches between this and a separate article. What do you think will happen?
ATP Dubai Day 3 Predictions
Botic Van De Zandschulp vs Mikael Ymer
Head-to-head: 0-0
Van De Zandschulp had an amazing win in the opening round, beating recent back-to-back Grand Slam semifinalist Karen Khachanov in straight sets with a strong 21 unforced errors. It’s a very different matchup next with the Swede lacking fire power and will be looking to grind the Dutchman down in rallies but if the 27-year-old plays like he did against Khachanov, no passive style will work here.
Prediction: Van De Zandschulp in 2
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Lorenzo Sonego
Head-to-head: Auger-Aliassime 2-0
Whilst it’s not been a great start to the Canadian’s year, he’s slowly improving as evident with a quarter-final in Rotterdam and a semi-final in Dubai where he lost both to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev. Having just also beaten Sonego 6-2 6-3 in Rotterdam it’s hard to see this one being close, yes, it’s outdoors which helps the Italian a little bit more but on a fast hardcourt the 27-year-old shouldn’t be able to deal with the Canadian’s serve to make it very competitive.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 2
Pavel Kotov vs Hubert Hurkacz
Head-to-head: 0-0
Both men needed final set tie-breaks in their first round matches which isn’t too surprising for Kotov, given it was a great upset win against Popyrin, but not many expected last week’s winner Hurkacz needing one against a lucky loser. With the Pole it looked at times as if all the recent matches were having their impact on him but on serve he looked good which he needs to build off in order to have a good run this week. Bar a very poor performance from the 26 year old this one looks fairly easy to predict.
Prediction: Hurkacz in 2
Novak Djokovic vs Tallon Griekspoor
Head-to-head: Djokovic 1-0
It’s perhaps a bit unfair Griekspoor is playing the best player in the world in the second round. The Dutchman is already having a career best year with a title in India and a home semifinal in Rotterdam. He’s also only lost to Top 15 players all year. Djokovic, on the other hand wasn’t great in his opening round match, but survived in a final set tiebreak in which he severely turned it on. The Serbian will only get better this event and will have far too much for his younger opponent to handle.
Prediction: Djokovic in 2
Main Photo Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
