TennisSection previews the 2022 Dubai Open as Hubert Hurkacz takes on Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinal on Thursday, February 24th, 2022.
Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner will put their friendship on one side as they lock horns in the last eight of the Dubai Open. They were double partners this week, but had to forfeit their place in the doubles quarterfinal following their deep runs in singles. So who will inflict pain on the other?
At this time last year, Hubert Hurkacz’s meteoric rise gathered pace. He had already won an ATP title in Delray and was soon to embark on a breakout run at the Miami Masters. Fast forward 12 months and Hurkacz will be highly satisfied with how things panned out. He broke the world’s Top 10 at some point, and even managed to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin. Those were some big milestones in Hurkacz’s career and he nearly chalked off another at the ATP Cup. He guided his country into the semifinals of the team tournament before bowing out to Spain. His form went off the boil at the Australian Open and Rotterdam, but he is back to his best at this week’s Dubai Open. Hurkacz has dropped nine games en route to the quarterfinals of the Dubai Open and will face a tough test against his good friend Jannik Sinner.
Jannik Sinner, for his part, improved to 9-1 for the season after a clinical performance against Andy Murray. Sinner would avenge his previous loss to the Briton in Stockholm last fall, taking an hour and 44 minutes to advance. The Italian power hitter did not face a single break point in the match and compounded Murray’s misery in the Middle Eastern swing.
Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner are tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head. Hurkacz memorably defeated Sinner at the Miami Open last year to win his first Masters 1000 title –a result which proved decisive in lifting the Pole above Sinner in the race to Turin at the end of the season. But in a curious twist of fate, Sinner entered the ATP Finals as an alternate and defeated Hurkacz in the group stage to send him packing. I think this will be a lot tighter than their Turin meeting. Sinner is probably the most consistent of the pair from baseline exchanges, but Hurkacz does have his own weapons to trouble the Italian. Nonetheless, I still fancy fourth-seeded Sinner to win.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Jannik Sinner to win in 3 sets.
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