ATP: Wawrinka, Rublev and Co. visit Doha
While the new tennis year is already in full swing in Australia, the first regular ATP 250 tour event takes place this week in Doha. Even if the 28th edition of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open does not feature any of the big four in men's tennis or a top 10 player compared to previous years, the 28-man field is well balanced.
by Florian Heer
last edit: Jan 07, 2020, 03:15 pm
By Florian Heer from Doha
The seed list is led by Stan Wawrinka . The three-time Grand Slam champion from Switzerland has a contract for the 2020 edition of the tournament in the desert state and has therefore given an early cancellation to the ATP Cup, which is taking place at the same time. Wawrinka will play his first match against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday. 6-0 is the direct comparison from the perspective of the world rankings 15. Wawrinka, 16-time individual tournament winner, is looking for his first triumph since 2017 in Geneva at home.
Wawrinka, Rublev before the start of the new season
"I trained well," said Wawrinka during a tour of the Qatar National Museum, which opened its doors last March.
“I am satisfied with my condition before the start of the first tournament of the year. It's hard to get your best tennis at the start of a new season. So I try to enjoy it here, to play well and to see where I am. ”
Andrey Rublev is the # 2 hard court event with a total prize pool of $ 1,465,260. The 22-year-old Russian will start his title hunt against the winner of the game between the Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri and the Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin after a walk-through in the first round. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France and the Canadian Milos Raonic complete the top-class quartet in Doha.
Bublik reached second round
The main field started in the tournament on Monday. Alexander Bublik ensured that the first seeded player was eliminated. The Kazakh defeated the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, number seven of the tournament, 6-3, 6-4 and now faces Aljaz Bedene from Slovenia.
Filip Krajinovic, number six, has reached the second round. Late at night, the 27-year-old Serb wrestled the British Kyle Edmund with 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 after two hours and 15 minutes at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Krajinovic will face the Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco next. The tournament in Doha is a home game for the 36-year-old Madrilenian, since he has been residing in the capital of Qatar for several years.