TennisSection previews the 2022 Qatar Open as Marin Cilic takes on Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round on Wednesday, February 16th, 2022.
With seven win under his belt, Marin Cilic is among the pacesetters on the ATP Tour in 2022. Will the Croatian keep the ball rolling at the Qatar Open? Or will he succumb to the deft touches of Botic van de Zandschulp on Wednesday?
Marin Cilic is making an unaccustomed appearance in Doha, where he will play the Qatar Open for the first time. The Croatian hasn’t been a regular in the Middle-Eastern swing, managing just a handful of appearances in Dubai down the years despite his penchant for hard courts. Cilic has started the current season strongly as he eyes a return to the world’s Top 20. The power-hitting Cilic has compiled a 7-3 record for the year, reaching back-to-back semifinals at the two Adelaide tournaments and the Round of 16 of the Australian Open. Cilic will have his hands full in his first match back since his four-set loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime Down Under.
Botic van de Zandschulp was a player that generated plenty of interest during the second half of the campaign last season. Van de Zandschulp was a renowned Challenger Tour player until last September when he made quite the introduction at the US Open. As fans and pundits spent time learning to pronounce his name, van de Zandschulp was steadily making his climb in the rankings and chalking off one win after another on the main tour. His run to the US Open quarterfinals as a qualifier unearthed his presence among the big boys and he topped off the year with another deep run by reaching the semifinals in St. Petersburg. And it is nice to see that he is not one to glorify on his past achievements as he has started 2022 on a positive note. His first-round win at the Qatar Open against Thomas Fabbiano comes just days after he celebrated a place in the world’s top 50 for the first time in his career.
Marin Cilic leads Botic van de Zandschulp 1-0 in their head-to-head. Cilic put the brakes on the Dutchman in last year’s meeting in St. Petersburg. And he will need to dig a lot deeper to get the better of van de Zandschulp once more. The unheralded 26-year-old is an astute baseliner who reads the game so well. His use of sliced backhands and flat ground strokes can make his opponents impatient. But I think Cilic has too much nous to deflect such tactics.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Marin Cilic to win in 3 sets.
Want more Free Tennis Picks from our Experts? Check out our latest Tennis Predictions now!
Join TopCourt now to learn from some of the best tennis players in the world! Find our exclusive 14-day FREE-trial here!
All betting odds/banners presented on the site are advertisements. Opinions of our experts are solely opinions. Please gamble responsibly and BeGambleAware.org.
