Rublev dominates De Minaur on his eighth match point to reach the semi-finals in Doha
It's quarter-final day in Doha. Despite Novak Djokovic's elimination, the draw is looking good, and the first match of the day pits number 5 seed Andrey Rublev against number 2 Alex De Minaur.
This is the 8th time the two men have met (the Australian leads 4-3 so far, but they haven't faced each other since Rotterdam 2024).
The opening game was clearly dominated by the more enterprising Rublev, who quickly gained the upper hand with a double break that put the Russian in the lead.
De Minaur, who has been gaining in confidence of late and was recently a finalist in Rotterdam against Alcaraz, needed only a break in the second to come back level.
The third set, on the other hand, was a huge battle between the two players, who gave blow for blow. Rublev took his opponent's serve first, and then served for the match at 5-3.
But De Minaur didn't give up, saving several match points in the next two games.
Andrey Rublev, who had been ahead for most of the match, thought he'd lost the match when he saw his opponent win a match point at 5-6 after leading 4-2 and 5-3 in the tie-break.
But Rublev, who has been lacking in confidence in recent months, didn't panic and on a final unforced error by the Australian at 9-8, Rublev, who won the match on his eighth opportunity, reached the semi-finals for the fourth time in his career in Doha (6-1, 3-6, 7-6 in 2h40).
The winner of the 2020 edition will face either Daniil Medvedev or Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the final in Qatar. The main player reacted on court after his victory.
"45 minutes between my first and my eighth match point? On the first, Alex just made a fantastic point, with a backhand along the line.
I did a nice volley and he did this forehand passing shot. After that, I said to myself, 'After points like that, it's usually my opponents who win.
After that, I sometimes lacked success, but I told myself that even if I had to lose, at least I had to give it my all right up to the end.
In situations like that, you have to stay focused. I've won games in this position before, and staying focused makes you de-stress. I've been in a situation where I've let my guard down a bit.
That's what happened to me, and that's why I lost my game when I served for the match. From that moment on, I just wanted to push him to the limit," said Rublev.
Doha 
De Minaur didn't show up for the first set. Then when he did he won the second and only lost in a 3rd set tie break.