Doha, Feb 20 (IANS) Andrey Rublev dug deep and took a difficult route to the semifinals of the Qatar Open, converting his eighth match point in a dramatic win over second seed Alex de Minaur in the ATP 500 event here on Thursday. The fifth seed Rublev came back after losing the second set for a dramatic 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(8) triumph over De Minaur of Australia, in which he let slip seven match points before crossing the line.
Rublev, the 2020 Doha champion, squandered a 5-2 lead in the final set after De Minaur came up with some trademark scrambling to force a tie-break. Yet the 27-year-old regrouped in remarkable fashion, saving a match point himself, to seal his first win over a Top 10 player since August last year.
After levelling his ATP head-to-head series with De Minaur at 4-4, Rublev is into his fourth semi-final in Doha. The No. 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings will next face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who advanced after Daniil Medvedev was forced to retire from their quarter-final clash with food poisoning.
“When I had my first match point, I played really well,” said Rublev after his two-hour, 37-minute win. “I did everything amazing and he just played an unreal rally. He made the backhand down the line and I played a good volley. Then he makes a forehand pass down the line. In most of the matches, normally after these points, they win – it’s a turning [point].
“I then started to get a bit more tight and more emotional, I was a bit unlucky. Then when I lost my serve, I said ‘Okay, whatever, if I’m gonna lose, at least just try to do your best until the end’,” he added.
De Minaur’s notably improved serve deserted him in the opening set, during which Rublev commanded from the baseline and exploited the 46 percent (12/26) of first serves that the Australian landed, according to Infosys ATP Stats, with his aggressive return position. The 26-year-old seemed to have rediscovered his form at the right time, however, once he rallied from 2-5 to force a deciding-set tie-break.
Rublev would have lost control after he squandered seven match points, including two on his own serve, at 5-3 in the final set and 8/7 in the tie-break. Yet the former champion kept his cool and continued to apply pressure from the baseline, which was ultimately key to his victory.
In another quarterfinal clash at the Centre Court, Canada’s Flex Auger-Aliassime advanced as fourth seed Daniil Medvedev retired from the match with an injury. Auger-Aliassime won the first set 6-3 before his opponent withdrew.
–IANS
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