With a Saturday final, there is no time to waste as the business end of the Dubai ATP 500 approaches. Thursday’s quarterfinal lineup includes Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Jiri Lehecka and Daniil Medvedev vs. Jenson Brooksby.
(1) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. (8) Jiri Lehecka
Auger-Aliassime and Lehecka will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in Auger-Aliassime’s favor, although one of his victories came via retirement midway through the first set. Lehecka prevailed in a fourth-set tiebreaker at the 2023 Australian Open before Auger-Aliassime triumphed 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-2 in the Brussels final this past fall.
As those results indicate, an outdoor hard court gives Lehecka a better chance in this matchup than an indoor setting. Auger-Aliassime has played well in the Middle East in the past, but the eighth-ranked Canadian isn’t great on this surface like he is indoors. This is Lehecka’s second straight quarterfinal result after making it this far in Doha and it wouldn’t be a shock if the 24th-ranked Czech advances even farther in Dubai.
Pick: Lehecka in 3
(3) Daniil Medvedev vs. Jenson Brooksby
As we saw in losses to Learner Tien (Australian Open), Ugo Humbert (Rotterdam), and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Doha), Medvedev has not yet put it all together. But he is close. The 11th-ranked Russian is 11-3 this season with a title in Brisbane and Dubai victories over Jerry Shang and Stan Wawrinka — both in lightning-quick straight sets.
Up next for Medvedev on Thursday is a second meeting with Brooksby, who lost their only previous contest 7-5, 6-1 at the 2022 Miami Masters. This simply isn’t a good matchup for the 49th-ranked American. Medvedev can bring just as much annoyance to the table as Brooksby does, plus the former world No. 1 wields a much bigger serve and more firepower from the back of the court when he actually tries to swing out on his groundstrokes. Brooksby did well to defeat Zizou Bergs and Karen Khachanov in the first two rounds, but this likely marks the end of the road.
Pick: Medvedev in 2