(8) Andreas Seppi vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer will look to continue his head-to-head dominance of Seppi when they face each other in quarterfinal action at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Thursday. All seven of their previous encounters have gone Federer's way, including four times on hard courts. The Swiss has won all 15 sets against Seppi and only three (and just one of the last 13) have been decided by tiebreakers. They most recently squared off at the 2010 Shanghai Masters, where Federer rolled 6-3, 6-4.
Both players are off to stellar starts in 2012. A quarterfinal showing at a strong 250-point event is already a good showing for Seppi, who has taken out Lukasz Kubot andGuillermo Garcia-Lopez in straight sets. Federer, who ended 2011 on a 17-match winning streak, has eased past Nikolay Davydenko and Grega Zemlja. The eighth-seeded Italian is a consistent baseliner who will make his opponent work hard, but count on Federer cruising in straights.
(4) Gael Monfils vs. (5) Viktor Troicki
Monfils and Troicki will be going head-to-head for just the second time in their careers when they clash on Thursday. If this encounter is anywhere close to as good as their previous one, the Doha fans will not be disappointed. In the third round of last summer's Montreal Masters, Monfils outlasted Troicki 3-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(5).
The 16th-ranked Frenchman endured a similar test on Wednesday, as he battled past Benjamin Becker 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 27 minutes. That was preceded by a more routine 7-5, 6-3 victory over Rui Machado. Troicki has earned straight-set wins this week over Lukas Rosol and Matthias Bachinger. The fifth-seeded Serb is trying to build on a stellar 2011 campaign in which he compiled a 40-26 record. This could go either way, but Monfils in three sets is the pick.
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