The Dubai Field is generally one of the strongest 500 level
fields of the year, and once again claims many of the world's top players. However, thanks to its generous appearance
fees for the top players it's always a little top heavy, and this year is no
different. Djokovic, Federer, Murray and
Berdych are your top 4 seeds, and there is a big gap between these four and the
rest of the field. The still winless in
2015 Gulbis is the 5th seeed, and Feliciano Lopez, Roberto Bautista-Agut and David
Goffin round out your top eight.
In the top section, Djokovic should coast to the quarters where Feliciano Lopez likely awaits.
While the fast surface at Dubai
will be beneficial for Lopez, he has never beaten Djokovic in five tries and
only has taken a set on one occasion. That
won't change here, and Djokovic should get past Lopez without too much
trouble.
Berdych's first round opponent is Jeremy Chardy, who has one
his first round match and lost his second at every tournament so far this year. That trend won't continue in Dubai , as Berdych should get past Chardy in
straights on his way to the semifinals.
Expect Sergiy Stakhovsky to be Berdych's quarterfinals opponent (taking
the spot of the seriously struggling Gulbis), but not for him to put up much
resistance against the Czech in the quarters.
In the next quarter, Andy Murray opens against Gilles
Muller, who has been playing very well to start 2015. Muller should be Murray 's trickiest match on the way to the
semis, as 8th seed David Goffin has struggled to maintain the momentum from his
very strong 2014 campaign. Muller may
put up a good fight, but Murray 's
returning should neutralize Muller's biggest weapon. No one else in this section will trouble Murray , and he'll make his way to the semifinals.
Federer's section has some talent, and potential second
round opponent Guillermo Garcia- Lopez is off to a fine start in 2015. The two surprisingly haven't played since
2009, and unlike Federer, Garcia-Lopez holds a win over Andreas Seppi in
2015. Since it's boring to pick the top
four to all make the semifinals, lets go with Garcia-Lopez with the major second
round upset over the Swiss. Garcia-Lopez
will then take out Richard Gasquet to make the semis, who gets the edge out of
the tricky section consisting of Gasquet, Seppi, Thiem and Bautista-Agut.
While Berdych has been playing very well to start the year,
Djokovic should once again be too much.
There's a reason Djokovic has a 17-2 edge in their head-to-head matchup,
as Djokovic's stellar defense tends to neutralize Berdych's easy power. Berdych may steal a set, but in the end
Djokovic will find himself in the finals.
The last time Garcia-Lopez and Murray played the Spaniard
won in straight sets. His confidence will be
high, but taking out Federer and Murray in the same week seems like asking for
a bit much. Murray should be over his Australian Open
hangover by now, and gets the edge in three tough sets.
That makes the finals a rematch of the Australian Open
finals, where Djokovic wore down Murray
both mentally and physically. Murray will be looking
for revenge, but that won't be enough to get past the stronger Djokovic. Murray will
put up a fight, but the faster surface at Dubai
won't do him any favors. Djokovic loves
playing in Dubai ,
and should regain the title after his semifinal loss in last year's event.
No comments:
Post a Comment