The penultimate matches at the ATP 500 in Dubai are upon us with two mouth-watering semifinal matches. The 2022 champion is up against a familiar foe, Alexander Bublik while defending champion Daniil Medvedev has a tricky challenge versus Ugo Humbert.
Will it be an all-Russian final for the second year running or will either of the former champions exit?
ATP Dubai Semifinal Predictions
Daniil Medvedev vs Ugo Humbert
Head–to–Head: Medvedev 1 vs 2 Humbert
Ugo Humbert exerted revenge for his third-round loss to Hubert Hukarcz at Melbourne–claiming a superb comeback win to set up a semifinal showdown against the defending champion, Daniil Medvedev. The young lefthanded Frenchman is having a phenomenal season, securing his fifth career title in Marseille, and playing some brilliant tennis along the way.
Top seed, Daniil Medvedev only loss this year was against Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final. The Russian hasn’t even hit top gear but he’s grinding out win after win. He started slowly in his first-round match against Alexander Shevchenko before conceding a set to Lorenzo Sonego in the match. He, however totally outclassed Alejandro Fokina in the quarterfinal and he’ll be confident he can go to defend his title here.
Interestingly, Humbert is ahead on the head-to-head but they’re even on hard courts. The Frenchman has taken at least a set off the Russian in their three encounters and I think he’ll win more than one this time in what promises to be a feisty match.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Andrey Rublev vs Alexander Bublik
Head–to–Head: Rublev 4 vs 2 Bublik
Second seed, Andrey Rublev didn’t get off to a good start here in Dubai, losing the very first game against Zhang Zhinzhen before rallying to secure a comeback win and then proceeding to win his next match in straight sets.
Similarly, Bublik had to endure three sets before getting ahead of Tomas Machac in the first round before requiring two tiebreakers to edge past Tallon Griekspoor in the next match. Both players had their quarterfinal opponents retiring halfway through the second set.
This is bound to be a blockbuster. The most recent meeting went the whole hog in one of the most exciting matches at Wimbledon. The Kazakh #1 is the better server – hitting a stupendous 22 aces against Tomas Machac and Rublev is arguably the best returner and baseliner in the game.
When both players are equally primed for a match like this, then experience will have to be the difference and Rublev has lots of it in Dubai. He is playing in his fourth consecutive semifinal and aiming to play in his third straight final. Enjoy the excitement and expect the Russian to raise his game to earn another chance to win his second title here.
Prediction: Rublev in 3
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
