Rublev needs 8 match points to beat De Minaur in Qatar Open quarterfinals

By Canadian Press on February 20, 2025.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Andrey Rublev saved one match point and needed eight of his own to subdue Alex de Minaur 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8) in the Qatar Open quarterfinals on Thursday.

The tortuous journey to the win prompted Rublev to joke about de Minaur, “I wanna punch him.”

The Russian fifth seed wasted a 5-2 lead in the last set against the Australian second seed, who forced the tiebreak with remarkable scrambling.

But after 2 1/2 hours, Rublev was through to his fourth semifinals in Doha, where he won the title in 2020.

He’ll face Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Daniil Medvedev when the Russian retired after losing the first set 6-3.

“I felt he was playing normal,” Auger-Aliassime said on court. “And then I broke, I held my serve. And he just told (the umpire) that he didn’t want to shake our hands because he was sick. I hope it’s nothing too bad. I was surprised.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

The Associated Press

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