Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani watching the action of Qatar ExxonMobil Open Men’s singles second round at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, yesterday.
DOHA: Emerging Croatian star Borna Coric, Russian Andrey Rublev and Mirza Basic are just a step away from fame and fortune. The trio has not hit the bull’s eye in the past few seasons but threaten to do so in the new season.
They are young and have the results to back them in the season-opener in Doha and are ready to go a mile. Coric is 21 years, Rublev (20) and Basic (26).
With six of the eight seeded players crashing out from the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, only top seed Dominic Thiem of Austria and Frenchman Richard Gasquet are the survivors, a new bunch of players are all set to leave their mark in Doha and set the tone for the gruelling season ahead. All the three made it to the quarter-finals, taking contrasting routes, Basic, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, ranked 138, made it past the qualifying rounds to the draw of 32.
The 26-year-old, who turned pro in 2012, has continued his fine run in the main rounds defeating Andreas Haider-Maurer in the first round and yesterday he downed Feliciano Lopez, the eight seed of the tournament.
For Basic, an aspiring lawyer, whose parents and brother are doctors, the career high so far has been qualifying for the 2016 Grand Slam in Australia. In the new season, he is threatening to go an extra mile.
Basic is yet to win a title on the tour but Doha might well prove to be a career defining moment.
Another player who caught the eye in Doha happens to be Rublev, ranked World No.39.
Yesterday he send seventh seed Fernando Verdasco packing to advance to the quarter finals.
Rublev, an ATP Gen Next Finals qualifier where he lost in the final in Milan had some impressive results last year.
At the US Open, the Russian beat then-No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin, who’d finish at No. 7 in the year-end ATP Rankings, en route to becoming the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since Andy Roddick in 2001.
A month later, at the China Open in Beijing, Rublev fought back from a set down to beat both year-end No. 8 Jack Sock and Top 10 stalwart Tomas Berdych.
Last season was by far Rublev’s best on the ATP World Tour. The Russian shaved off more than 100 spots from his year-end ATP Ranking, starting 2017 at No. 156 and finishing at No. 39. Rublev was the top seed at the ATP Gen Next Finals in Italy, and he lost to champion Hyeon Chung of South Korea.
Croatian Coric with a World No. 48 rank, who already has a win against former World No. 1 Andy Murray against his name, is one who has come up with some attacking tennis, which has yielded results for him in Qatar.
Yesterday, he downed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, dropping just four games in his 6-1, 6-4, his first against Basilashvili. Last year Coric, finished on the losing side on the two occasions they met.
Today Coric takes on Rublev, in one of clashes between two supremely talented players who either didn’t get into the spotlight.
