The top seeds here at ATP Dubai this week will be World No.4 Dominic Thiem and in-form Andrey Rublev. Day 1 in Dubai will feature some of the veterans you would have heard of- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Jeremy Chardy, Kei Nishikori. They will all be battling it out for a place in the second round. We also have predictions for the rest of the Day 1 matches.
ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Day 1 Predictions
Malek Jaziri vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Head-to-head: Tsonga leads 2-0
This should be a close match. Tsonga has barely played any tennis all year and Jaziri has mainly been playing on the Challenger circuit for the last twelve months with mixed results. If Tsonga can play a bit more consistently than he played at Montpellier last month, he will have a chance. If not, he will struggle. But I will give Tsonga the benefit of the doubt.
Prediction: Tsonga in 3
Jeremy Chardy vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Head-to-head: Ramos-Vinolas leads 3-1
Despite Ramos-Vinolas holding a head-to-head advantage over the French veteran, Chardy has been playing well all season on hard courts. The 34-year-0ld Frenchman has already reached two semifinals (Antalya and Melbourne) and one quarterfinal (Rotterdam) this year. You could argue that Ramos-Vinolas has been in hot form in his past two tournaments- reaching the final in Cordoba and semifinals in Buenos Aires. But those two tournaments have been on clay so the result is not that surprising considering it is the Spaniard’s preferred surface. Despite many people thinking this will be a tough match for both players here, Chardy should to advance to the next round with relative ease here.
Prediction: Chardy in 2
Kei Nishikori vs Reilly Opelka
Head-to-head: First meeting
Like Jeremy Chardy vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas, this is a match many will expect that will be a toss-up. But Nishikori should advance with ease here. Let me explain why. The young American has been struggling on all season and is currently on a three match losing streak and has lost to players he shouldn’t have lost to. His confidence is struggling.
Nishikori, on the other hand, has had moments of brilliance this season, like beating Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur back-to-back in Rotterdam. The 31-year-old Japanese’s game is built strongly on his return and groundstrokes. Opelka will feel like his biggest weapon–his serve–being taken away as the match drags on and Nishikori will clinch the victory.
Prediction: Nishikori in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
