Two of the four remaining players in the bottom half of the Dubai draw are unseeded, as Arthur Rinderknech and Tallon Griekspoor have crashed the party. They are facing Andrey Rublev and Jakub Mensik, respectively.
(5) Andrey Rublev vs. Arthur Rinderknech
Rublev and Rinderknech will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday. All three of their previous encounters have gone Rublev’s way — in four sets at the 2023 U.S. Open, in two at the 2024 Washington, D.C. tournament, and in five at the 2024 U.S. Open.
Can Rinderknech turn the tide in Dubai? It’s not likely. The world No. 31 has struggled a bit since his memorable run to the Shanghai final last fall and he is coming off a pair of very tough three-setters against Fabian Marozsan and Jack Draper. Rublev needed three to get past Ugo Humbert in an extremely high-quality contest on Wednesday, but he preceded that result with a straight-set rout of Valentin Royer. If the 18th-ranked individual neutral athlete plays as well as he did against Humbert, he should take care of the Frenchman without too much trouble.
Pick: Rublev in 2
(6) Jakub Mensik vs. Tallon Griekspoor
Mensik has surged out of the gates in 2026, sporting a 12-3 record that features a title in Auckland and a Doha upset of Jannik Sinner. The 13th-ranked Czech ended up losing in the Doha quarterfinals, but at least that left him well rested for Dubai. Showing no signs of slowing down, Mensik secured a spot in the last eight by beating Hubert Hurkacz and Alexei Popyrin in straight sets.
Up next for the 20-year-old on Thursday is a first-ever meeting with Griekspoor, who has advanced with victories over Otto Virtanen and Alexander Bublik. Still, the 25th-ranked Dutchman is just 5-6 this season. Griekspoor is an extremely solid player, but Mensik’s serve and forehand will be the two biggest weapons on the court — so the match will be on the No. 6 seed’s racket.
Pick: Mensik in 3