Thursday was a day of quarterfinals in ATP 250 tournament in Doha. Four matches played today in Qatar delivered one surprising result, as the seed #1 Andrey Rublev got eliminated by Jiri Lehecka in three sets. The Russian started well with gaining a break in 4th game and clinching the opening set without facing any single breakpoint. Second set was also a good display of serving performance from both players, but it was Rublev who showed the weakness in 10th game while serving to stay in the set. The Czech broke to love and forced the decider. Lehecka used his momentum to gain another break in second game of third set and did not blow away the advantage till the end, winning eventually 4-6 6-4 6-3.
Andy Murray will be Lehecka's opponent in tomorrow's semifinal. The Brit, who has already survived two thrilling battles against Lorenzo Sonego and Alexander Zverev, was a favorite in today's QF against Alexandre Muller - the local player, ranked #170 in ATP list. Murray started the match with the early break, but the Frenchman surprisingly managed to level the score and moved into the lead, winning 4 games in a row and clinching the first set 6-4. The Scot found his game since the start of second set, winning it 6-1 and sealing the victory in the decider, grabbed with a score 6-2. Murray has not faced any single breakpoint since the start of second set, advancing into semis despite the early problems.
Felix Auger Aliassime will have a chance to take the revenge on Daniil Medvedev for the severe loss suffered in last week's quarterfinal of ATP 500 tournament in Rotterdam. The Canadian overcame Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in two sets, winning 6-4 7-6(5).
Medvedev faced some more trouble in his match against Christopher Oconnell. Former ATP ranking's leader won the first set 6-2 in just 25 minutes, but the Aussie managed to gain a break advantage after start of the second one. O'Connell missed a chance to serve out the set in 9th game, but broke Medvedev once again in 10th game and surprisingly forced the third set. The Russian did not convert the breakpoint in third game of it and both players were holding their serves with a confidence, which was foreshadowing a decisive tie-break. Medvedev waited patiently for his chance, breaking O'Connell in 11th game to love and winning the match 6-2 4-6 7-5 at the end. The match was much more tricky than expected for the US Open 2021 champion, as he was a clear pre-match favorite with an average odd 1.05.
Here are the highlights:
