A big showdown

A match I imagine will be tight here!

Brooksby delivered a solid first round against Zizou Bergs. He managed to impose his rhythm, vary the trajectories and, above all, stay very tactically disciplined. This victory is important for his confidence, as it validates the work done over the past few weeks and confirms that he can string together good performances in these conditions.

For his part, Khachanov had to battle for a long time against Shevchenko. The match was intense and hard-fought, without being of a very high level, but the Russian once again showed his fighting spirit. He managed to tighten up his game in the important moments, true to his reputation as a mentally solid player.

In Dubai,the fast conditions do, however, seem to suit the American slightly better. Brooksby likes to break the rhythm, take the ball early and throw his opponents off their game, which can be particularly troublesome for Khachanov, who is more comfortable when he can settle into a more linear pattern and impose his power. The Russian has never really performed well here, either. We can therefore expect another tight match, with close games and very little separating the two men. Brooksby’s relative freshness and his adaptation to the conditions could offset the Russian’s experience and power.