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 tiebreaker to beat Dutch opponent Tallon Griekspoor in the previous round, fired 10 aces but couldn’t 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 semifinals after Murray rallied 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 downed 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 rallying past Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in second-round action at 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 across 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 seed David Goffin of Belgium also withdrew, citing a left knee injury, and Mikael Ymer of Sweden moved on 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 was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer.
Rio Open
Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain outlasted Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in 2 hours, 47 minutes during their second-round match in Rio de Janeiro.
In the quarterfinals, Alcaraz will face the winner between Serbians 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.
Fellow Argentine Sebastian Baez fared better, as the sixth seed eked past Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas 7-5, 7-6 (6). Seventh seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain and qualifier Nicolas Jarry of Chile also advanced.
–Field Level Media
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