Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic took down Russian No. 1 seed Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Thursday in Doha.
Rublev, who survived a third-set tiebreak to defeat Dutch opponent Tallon Griekspoor in the previous round, fired 10 aces but was unable to break Lehecka’s serve in the second or third sets. Lehecka won 14 of 15 total service games despite Rublev holding a 36-26 edge in winners.
Lehecka will face Great Britain’s Andy Murray in the semi-finals after Murray eased past French qualifier Alexandre Muller 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
No. 2 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada and No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia will square off in the other semifinal. Auger-Aliassime defeated No. 7 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 7-6 (5) on Thursday while Medvedev battled past Christopher O’Connell of Australia 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
Open 13 Provence
no. 1 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland dropped his first set before getting past Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round in Marseille, France.
Hurkacz fired seven of his 12 aces in the first set but still fell behind. He won all 25 of his first-serve points over the second and third sets and finished 38-for-42 (90.5 percent) for the match. Hurkacz also saved five of six break points.
No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy withdrew due to illness, allowing French 18-year-old Arthur Fils to advance via walkover. No. 6 David Goffin of Belgium also withdrew, citing a left knee injury, and Mikael Ymer of Sweden advanced via walkover.
Third seed Alex de Minaur of Australia beat Swiss qualifier Alexander Ritschard 6-3, 6-3, while fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria won 6-3, 6-2 over Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer.
Rio Open
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain got the better of Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in 2 hours and 47 minutes in their second-round match in Rio de Janeiro.
In the quarter-finals, Alcaraz will face the winner of Serbs Laslo Djere and Dusan Lajovic, the lone late match on Thursday.
Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain upset No. 4 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
Argentina’s Sebastian Baez fared better, as the sixth seed got past Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas 7-5, 7-6 (6). Seventh-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain and qualifier Nicolas Jarry of Chile also advanced.
–Field Level Media
Source: sn.dk