{"id":47191,"date":"2022-02-24T17:35:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T22:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=47191"},"modified":"2022-02-24T17:35:53","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T22:35:53","slug":"atp-dubai-semifinal-predictions-hurkacz-rublev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2022\/02\/24\/atp-dubai-semifinal-predictions-hurkacz-rublev\/","title":{"rendered":"ATP Dubai Semifinal Predictions Including Hubert Hurkacz vs Andrey Rublev"},"content":{"rendered":"

The quarterfinals in Dubai brought us the shocking upset of 2022<\/a>, after Round 2 brought us the other<\/em> major upset of 2022. And both at the hands of the same man. Abnormalcy like that makes picking winners a challenge, but we do our best below for the semis, including a more expected matchup between Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev.<\/p>\n

ATP Dubai Semifinals Predictions<\/h2>\n

Jiri Vesely vs Denis Shapovalov<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> first meeting<\/p>\n

Vesely!<\/em><\/p>\n

Fool me once<\/a>, shame on you. Fool me twice<\/a>, shame on me. Fool me three<\/a><\/em> times…and I would pick Jiri Vesely to win even if he went solo against a Nadal\/Djokovic doubles team.<\/p>\n

Vesely reminds me of the grown-up version of the kid who beat you up in school and stole your lunch money. And all week now, he\u2019s been pushing the best players in the world up against the lockers and stealing their lunch money. The win against Djokovic is the cream of the crop, but it should be noted that Vesely beat Cilic (#24) at an upswing in the Croat\u2019s performance, and he beat Roberto Bautista Agut (#15) amidst the Spaniard having the best start to the year of almost anyone on tour. And he\u2019s done it all in straight sets!<\/em><\/p>\n

This is all a necessary preamble for picking the #123-ranked player in the world in a semifinal of an ATP 500. There is nothing in Vesely\u2019s recent history to suggest that he should be playing this well. Much of the last half year has been spent building his game back up after a severe car accident<\/a>. But it\u2019s not like he had been lighting the tour on fire before that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shapovalov has played well this year, but he hasn\u2019t reached a final of a 500-level event or higher since the Paris Masters<\/a> two-and-a-half years ago. And though he has some good victories this year (over Alexander Zverev and Pablo Carreno Busta, and a run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open), it\u2019s hard to get a bead on how he\u2019s playing this tournament, as he has not had a difficult draw. His one higher-ranked match (Fucsovics, at #36) gave him trouble.<\/p>\n

Power vs Power<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do they stack up, and where are the openings against each other? Neither player has a good opening on serve. Serving down the T from the deuce court just goes to the opponent\u2019s forehand. Serving out wide from the ad also goes to their forehand. The lefty advantage is neutralized for each player. And both serve hard, but should be able to handle the other\u2019s pace well (when they can catch up to it).<\/p>\n

Shapovalov\u2019s main rally tactic is to overpower, but he shouldn\u2019t be able to overpower Vesely, and vice versa. Both forehands should offset, because they are both lefty power forehands hitting to each other. And each backhand is hit with power, though Vesely\u2019s is a little flatter and faster.<\/p>\n

Pace of Play<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vesely had some difficulty when Djokovic attacked, when he was able to send the ball deep and at the Czech\u2019s feet (Vesely doesn\u2019t have the best reaction time). Shapovalov, on the other hand, has quick reflexes and likes a faster pace of play, although he\u2019s hindered a little in this by the longer setup time of his loopy strokes. I think Shapovalov could trying running Vesely all over the court; he has the attacking mentality to do that well, and hits hard enough to put Vesely on the run. A third set could favor the spry young Canadian over the big man. If Shapovalov tries the wear-out tactic, look for Vesely to attempt some drop shots as he did against Djokovic.<\/p>\n

If Vesely hadn\u2019t just downed three great players, I would side with Shapovalov. But Vesely is the hottest hand in the world right now.
\nPrediction: Vesely in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>