ATP Doha Tournament, 2nd Round, Wednesday, 22.02.2023
In the round of 16 of the 250 ATP tournament in Doha it comes to the duel Liam Broady against Daniil Medvedev. The Russian wants to follow up his victory in Rotterdam.
To do so, he first has to get past Broady in the round of 16, who recently won eight matches in a row. Will it be an easy task, or will Medvedev cut his teeth? My Broady Medvedev tip gets to the bottom of the matter.
After an early exit at the Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev was disappointed. After two three-set wins against Marcos Giron and John Millman, it was all over against Sebastian Korda after three rounds (6-7, 3-6, 6-7).
For the former number one of the tennis world, who can play his qualities especially on hard court, the expectations were higher.
A month after the Grand Slam tournament, he now returned to the tour last week for the ATP 500 tournament in the port city of Rotterdam.
Medvedev won the tournament, overcoming five notable opponents in Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Botic van De Zandschulp, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Grigor Dimitrov and Jannik Sinner and conceding just two sets on his way to the throne.
In the final (5-7, 6-2, 6-2) he fought his way back into the match against Sinner after being down in the first set and did not give him a chance in the following ones.
What is striking when looking at Medvedev’s last results is his dominance. After losing the opening set against Fokina in the first round, he literally dismantled the competition.
The Spaniard, like Sinner in the final, could only win two games each in the last sets. The same happened to van de Zandschulp in his 2-6, 2-6 defeat. Auger-Aliassime (2-6, 4-6) was similarly overrun.
Dimitrov suffered an even more severe defeat in the semi-finals, winning only three games after 1-6, 2-6.
The performance is impressive, especially as all the opponents mentioned are in the world’s top 35. Will it continue in Qatar?
At least the conditions are different. Whereas in the Netherlands the matches were played indoors on hard court, in Doha they will be played outdoors in the fresh air.
The 27-year-old is taking part in the ATP Qatar Open for the first time. A nice side fact: the tournament has been held since 1993, the first event won by Boris Becker. In 1999, Rainer Schüttler was the last German to win.
For the 30th anniversary of the tournament, Medvedev has to play Liam Broady in the round of 16. According to the odds at the bookmakers, he is the clear favourite in this match.
The 1.06 odds for a win on the Rotterdam winner are not worth it at all. At odds of 9.50, the Brit is a clear underdog.
Is that justified? His results are at least respectable. The 1.83m-tall Broady is unbeaten for eight games.
The week before last, he won a Challenger tournament in Vilnius, Lithuania. Statistically speaking, he was even more dominant than Medvedev in Rotterdam.
From round one to the final, he did not lose a single set, but had nowhere near as strong competition as the Russian. None of his opponents are in the world’s top 150.
A more famous name can be found in his winning streak at the ATP tournament qualifier in Doha. Against Nikoloz Basilashvili, former 16th ranked player in the world, he won 6-4, 6-3.
However, this success should not be overestimated. The Georgian has not been playing at his former, high-class level for a long time. He is only ranked 113th in the world rankings.
After the successful qualification, Broady finally had to play Oleksii Krutykh in round one. After three sets and a tiebreak in the last one, it was enough for him to enter round two.
His streak is likely to be snapped against Medvedev, however. The two players have only met once in the past.
In the qualifying for the Challenger tournament in Bangkok in 2016, Medvedev clearly had the edge with a 6-2, 6-3 win. Even then, the strong server from Moscow impressed with 22 of 26 points won after the first service.
Both players bring an impressive winning streak to the duel. However, it is clear that there are worlds of tennis between the levels of their opponents.
Medvedev has almost always taken several serves from the competition in his winning sets and hardly allowed any breaks. In Rotterdam, he did not have to go through a tiebreak.
My Broady Medvedev tip is: 2:0 win for Medvedev and under 0.5 tiebreaks in the match
