ATP Dubai draw: Dominic Thiem and Andrey Rublev find out their paths to possible glory

ATP Tour
Andrey Rublev animated

Top seed Dominic Thiem will open his Dubai Tennis Championships campaign against either a qualifier or a lucky loser while second seed Andrey Rublev could face Qatar Open champion Nikoloz Basilashvili in third second round.

Reigning US Open champion Thiem, who lost in the quarter-final in Doha, could be up against Filip Krajinovic in the third round while one of Kei Nishikori, fifth seed David Goffin or 10th seed Borna Coric could be his quarter-final opponent.

As for the semi-finals, the Austrian finds himself in the same half as third seed Denis Shapovalov, eighth seed Karen Khachanov and ninth seed Alex de Minaur.

Rublev, who won the Rotterdam Open a fortnight ago, has become an ATP 500 specialist as his last five titles have all been at ATP 500 events.

The Russian, who lost in the semi-final at the Qatar Open, will face either Jordan Thompson from Australia or a lucky loser/qualifier in his second-round clash while Basilashvili or 15th seed Taylor Fritz could be up in the third round.

Sixth seed Pablo Carreno Busta or 11th seed Dusan Lajovic could await him in the quarter-final.

Qatar Open runner-up Bautista Agut also finds himself in Rublev’s half, but the Spaniard faces Matthew Ebden from Australia first up and could possibly take on young gun Jannik Sinner in the third round while 12th seed Dan Evans and 17th seed Lorenzo Sonego could await in the quarter-final.

British No 1 Evans, who lost against Roger Federer in the second round in Doha, will face either Russian wildcard Aslan Karatsev or Belarusian Egor Gerasimov first up.

World No 1 Novak Djokovic is the defending champion, but he is still recovering from injury while 20-time Grand Slam winners Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer withdrew also they are also not 100 per cent fit.

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