Vinay Nayudu
Doha
Olympic 2020 gold medallists Alexander Zverev of Germany and Andrey Rublev of Russia were cheerful selves as the two posed with the Falcon Trophy at the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum in Doha on Sunday ahead of the $1,485,775 Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2023 – the main round of which begins at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex from Monday.
Top seed Rublev and fourth seed Zverev also visited the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum and took great interest in the exhibits.
While Zverev won the men’s singles gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics beating Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, Rublev along with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won gold for the Refugee Olympic Team (ROC) in the mixed doubles event. The duo beat compatriots Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev.
The same year, Rublev also won the Qatar ExxonMobil Open beating Corentin Moutet of France in straight sets. Rublev was also a finalist earlier in 2018 in Doha when he went down to Frenchman Gael Monfils.
Both World No. 5 Rublev and World No. 17 Zverev have been acclimatizing in Qatar for the past few days while the other stars – second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, and third seed Daniil Medvedev are awaited. Medvedev won the Rotterdam Open final on Sunday and will be arriving in Doha on Monday.He beat Italian Jack Sinner 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
Meanwhile the 2021 champion in Doha, Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili lost to Liam Broady of Great Britain 4-6, 3-6 in the singles qualifying on Sunday.
Among the others to make it to the main draw of singles are Alexandre Muller of France, Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Oleksii Kruthykh of Ukraine.
Broady and Kruthykh will be playing against each other in the opening round on Monday.
Also in action on Monday will be wild card entrant and three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray against Italian Lorenzo Sonego at the centre court on Monday evening.
Opening the proceedings will be Aslan Karatsev against Australian Jason Kubler at 2.30pm on the centre court before wild card entrant Fernando Verdasco of Spain meets Australian Chirstopher O’Connell.
Another interesting tie would be between 7th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain and Constant Lestienne of France.
Despite the cold and blustery conditions, large number of fans had attended the just concluded Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2023 WTA tournament and more audience is expected to be at the February 20-25 Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex through the week for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2023 ATP tournament.
Men’s Singles (1st Round Draw)
[1] A. Rublev - Bye
T. Griekspoor (NED) vs. Q. Halys (FRA)
[Q] D. Dzumhur (BIH) vs. J. Lehecka (CZE)
E. Ruusuvuori (FIN) vs. [6] D. Evans (GBR)
[4] A. Zverev (GER) - Bye
L. Sonego (ITA) vs. [WC] A. Murray (GBR)
[LL] N. Basilashvili (GEO) vs. [Q] A. Muller (FRA)
I. Ivashka vs. [8] B. van de Zandschulp (NED)
[5] R. Bautista Agut (ESP) vs. M. Fucsovics (HUN)
[WC] F. Verdasco (ESP) vs. C. O’Connell (AUS)
[Q] O. Krutykh (UKR) vs. [Q] L. Broady (GBR)
[3] D. Medvedev - Bye
[7] A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP) vs. C. Lestienne (FRA)
[WC] A. Shelbayh (JOR) vs. S. Kwon (KOR)
A. Karatsev vs. J. Kubler (AUS)
[2] F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN) - Bye.
