Qatar ExxonMobil Open—Doha, Qatar
Lehecka Upsets Alcaraz in Doha; Andreeva Stuns Swiatek in Dubai
Thursday’s action at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, Qatar saw top seed Carlos Alcaraz crash out of the event, dropping a three set encounter to Jiri Lehecka, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Alcaraz, who led Lehecka 4-2 in the third set, dropped four straight games to lose the match.
Lehecka hit eight aces, won 73 percent of his first serve points and broke serve on four occasions.
Tying his head-to-head with Alcaraz at 1-1, Lehecka will next face either No. 8 seed Jack Draper or Matteo Berrettini.
Other results on the day featured No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev taking out No. 2 seed Alex de Minuar 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(8), and Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced past an ailing Daniil Medvedev 6-3 retire. The Russian pulled out of the event with food poisoning.
Rublev leads Auger-Aliassime 5-1 in career head-to-head meetings.
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Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships—Dubai, United Arab Emirates
No. 12 seed Mirra Andreeva stunned No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek 6-3, 6-3 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
Needing one hour and 36 minutes to advance, Andreeva hit 10 aces, won 73 percent of her first serve points and broke her Polish opponent on four occasions.
The 17-year-old Russian will next face No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina.
Rybakina continued her good form in the Middle East by defeating Sofia Kenin 6-2, 7-6(2).
Friday’s other semifinal will feature Clara Touson from Denmark taking on No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova.
Touson dismissed Linda Noskova 7-6(4), 6-4, and Muchova dispatched Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 7-5.
Muchova and Touson have never played on Tour.
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