TennisSection previews the 2022 Qatar Open as Denis Shapovalov takes on Alex Molcan in the second round on Wednesday, February 16th, 2022.
After a lackluster display in Rotterdam last week, Denis Shapovalov will be keen to atone for that mishap at this week’s Qatar Open. The Canadian will battle fellow lefty Alex Molcan for the right to reach the quarterfinals in Doha.
Having received a first round bye, top seed Denis Shapovalov will gear up to take on fellow southpaw Alex Molcan on Wednesday at the 2022 Qatar Open. Shapovalov started the year in devastating fashion. He spearheaded Canada’s successful bid at the ATP Cup alongside Felix Auger-Aliassime. That title-winning run proved to be the catalyst in a very productive Australian summer where Shapovalov reached the last eight at the year’s first Major. Shapovalov was one of only two men to take eventual champion Rafael Nadal to five sets during the fortnight, before he fell in the quarterfinals. The 22-year-old made a short-lived cameo in Rotterdam last week, suffering a surprise first-round defeat to Czech qualifier Jiri Lehecka.
Alex Molcan, for his part, did not have the luxury of top-seeded Denis Shapovalov at the Qatar Open. Due to a last-minute change of opponent, Molcan played Christopher O’Connell instead of Filip Krajinovic in his first round. And the Slovak survived that match by the skin of his teeth. The Australian qualifier came very close to snatch the win in two tiebreak sets. But Molcan’s big-hitting came to the fore after clawing his way back from a mini-break down in the second set tiebreak before winning 6-7 7-6 6-4 in just over two and half hours.
Denis Shapovalov and Alex Molcan have not played each other on the ATP Tour. Wednesday’s match at the Qatar Open will be their first official meeting. Shapovalov produced a lackluster display in his last outing in Rotterdam and is now staring at the possibility of losing three matches on the spin. But I’d be more worried for Molcan at the way in which he served so many errors on a tea tray including six double faults. Another error-strewn performance against a quality player like Shapovalov won’t go unpunished, so expect the Canadian to bounce back from that horror show in Rotterdam.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Denis Shapovalov to win.
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