Stan Wawrinka
Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland and rising Russian star Andrey Rublev, tipped by Roger Federer to sparkle in 2020, will be looking to start the new season with wins at the $1.5m Qatar ExxonMobil Open starting today.
Top seed Wawrinka, without a title since bagging 16th trophy of his career on clay in Geneva in 2017, arrived in Doha three days ago but has been in training mode for most part of December.
Rublev, the 2018 Qatar Open finalist, is seeded second at the 32-man singles event which ends on Saturday.
Wawrinka, the doubles gold medal winner with tennis icon Federer at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, will be looking to improve on his 6-5 record at the Qatar Open.
Placed at 6th on the all-time tennis earnings list, Wawrinka was a runner-up to Andy Murray in Doha in 2008 and a quarter-finalist last year.
Rublev, 22, is the one to watch out for this season, according to Federer.
Federer last week sang praises of Rublev, telling ATP TennisTV: “I think that Rublev is going to be something special. He played great against me in Cincinnati, he impressed me a lot there.”
French powerhouse Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (third seed), Serbian youngster Laslo Djere (fifth seed), compatriot Filip Krajinovic (sixth seed), Frenchman Adrian Mannarino (seventh seed) and American Frances Tiafoe (eight seed) are the other seeded players set to be seen in action at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco, based in Doha since 2016, said players always look to put the pre-season training to good use when it is competition time.
“You always want to win. It is about how to use all the work done in the pre-season when you are playing the first match and the subsequent season,” Verdasco, 36, said.
“It is always a bit harder because you need a little bit of time to get into the competition,” the feisty left-hander said.
Verdasco, who plays Pablo Andujar, a fellow Spaniard, in the first round in Doha, said he wants to keep battling on court.
“It is never easy to play somebody from Spain. I’ve known him for many seasons. We are good friends on Tour. He’s not the opponent I would choose. He’s the only Spanish player here. Only one of us will go to the next round,” Verdasco said.
When asked about his goals in the new season, Verdasco said playing consistent tennis was important.
“I want to be regular in the season. At the end, I want to get good results and obviously I want to fight for a big title,” Verdasco, who battled knee injury after the US Open, said. “My knee and my body are feeling good,” he said.
“I have been here since 2016. This is my fifth year. I moved after speaking with friends. I am already 36. I am not a young kid any more tennis-wise. Qatar are improving in all sports. I love sports and I have a spot to be here after I am done with tennis,” Verdasco said.
“But my priority is to focus on myself before the match. It is a really good draw. It will be tough no matter which part of the draw you are on,” Verdasco said.
Eighth seed Tiafoe, who faces a qualifier in his opening match, feels 2020 could be his breakthrough year on the Tour.
“I have never played here before. I really like it so far. The courts are nice. The stadium is pretty big. I am happy to be here,” Tiafoe said at the draw ceremony on Saturday.
“I think it’s going to be an exciting year. I am starting to do the right things. It’s going to be good tennis this week. I am very excited. There are good players in qualifiers. I am excited to get out there and compete and hopefully get some wins,” the 21-year-old added.
