If not Djokovic, Berdych and Wawrinka primed to win ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship

With world No 1 Novak Djokovic the overwhelming favourite to win in Dubai this week, our tennis writers, Jon Turner and Ahmed Rizvi, give their picks on who they think can stop the Serbian triumphing for a fifth time in the emirate.

Czech player Tomas Berdych returns the ball to Belgian David Goffin during their tennis match final quarter at the ATP Marseille Open 13 Provence in Marseille, southeastern France, on February 19, 2016. / AFP / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULATShow less

With world No 1 Novak Djokovic the overwhelming favourite to win this week’s ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, our tennis writers, Jon Turner and Ahmed Rizvi, give their picks on who they think can stop the Serbian triumphing for a fifth time in the emirate.

Jon Turner: Tomas Berdych

The start of the 2016 season has been a microcosm of Berdych’s career. The Czech world No 8 has only lost two matches, to Roger Federer at the Australian Open and Novak Djokovic in Qatar. For so long the best of the rest, Berdych, 30, has generally struggled when faced against the giants of men’s tennis.

With no Federer in Dubai this year, Berdych has a great opportunity to better the two final appearances he has made here – he lost to Federer in 2014, and yes, you guessed it, Djokovic in 2013.

In possession of a monster game from the baseline and a thunderous serve, if it is not Djokovic this year, then it is Berdych’s to lose.

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Ahmed Rizvi: Stan Wawrinka

There is only one man in this Dubai draw who owns a win over Djokovic since the start of 2015: Stan Wawrinka.

He came from a set down to beat the world No 1 in four sets in the French Open final last June, but can he do the same here?

Given Djokovic’s current majestic form, we may be clutching at straws, but then Wawrinka, the No 2 seed here, has done it in the past and he knows what it takes.

It will not be easy with the Swiss on the tougher side of the draw with Berdych, Nick Kyrgios and Borna Coric in his half. But then Berdych and Kyrgios will be arriving late from Marseille, where the ATP have been this week, and could find the transition from the indoors to the outdoors difficult.

Wawrinka was in Marseille as well, but lost to Paire Benoit in the quarter-finals, which means he has had more time to get used to the sun and the wind here, and, of course, the heat.

The last two years, Dubai fans have watched another Swiss, Roger Federer, stop Djokovic, and Wawrinka is capable of making it three in a row for the European nation.

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