In the opening round of the 2023 ATP Dubai Open on Monday, world number five Andrey Rublev will take on 67th-ranked Filip Krajinovic.
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Krajinovic will begin this match knowing that he has an overall head-to-head advantage over Rublev, but he will also be considering his record for the year and wondering how he might improve. Krajinovic has only won three matches while participating in four events in 2023. Two of these occurred at the Pune Open, his debut competition; however, following his triumph over Michael Mmoh in the second round, he has dropped four of his subsequent five matches. He actually comes into this tournament after suffering back-to-back losses to Lorenzo Sonego and Alexander Bublik in Montpellier and Marseille, giving him some cause for reflection. The question is whether he possesses sufficient firepower to defeat Rublev, who has recently struggled a little bit himself. Krajinovic has an interesting record at this competition, having advanced to the second round on each of the four occasions he has competed. He once advanced to the semifinals.
Rublev is currently rated fifth in the world, but by the time he plays in a match, that position will have changed by one. And the reason for that would be his lackluster showings at the past two weeks’ Qatar Open and Rotterdam Open. Rublev, who had lived up to the hype by making it as far as the Australian Open quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, has only won one of his last three matches. That happened in Doha versus Tallon Griekspoor, but defeats came before and after. One of them was in the opening round of the Rotterdam Open against Alex de Minaur, and the other was in the Doha Open against Jiri Lehecka. Without a doubt, both of these opponents have been challenging for most players lately, but Rublev would have preferred to perform far better. Make it to the championship rounds of at least one of those competitions. Can he ignore that and defeat a rival who has historically beaten him to start things off?
| Andrey Rublev vs Filip Krajinovic | Match details |
|---|---|
| Date | February 27, 2023 |
| Surface | Hard |
| Tournament | Dubai Championship |
| Stage | Round one |
| Time (India) | 08:30 P.M. |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Jiri Lehecka | 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 (L) |
| Tallon Griekspoor | 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 6(W) |
| Alex De Minaur | 6-4, 6-4 (L) |
| Novak Djokovic | 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 (L) |
| Holger Rune | 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-69 (W) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Alexander Bublik | 5-7 6-3 6-4 (L) |
| Lorenzo Sonego | 5-7, 1-6 (L) |
| Aslan Karatsev | 3-6 7-67 6-2 (W) |
| Holger Rune | 6-2 6-3 6-4 (L) |
| Benjamin Bonzi | 7-65 6-4 (L) |
There have been five meetings between these two, including one in the Davis Cup, and Krajinovic now leads 3-2. Only one of these matches took place on a clay court competition that Krajinovic won the previous year.
Andrey Rublev and Filip Krajinovic will take on each other in the first round of the 2023 ATP Dubai Championship on February 27.
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