Andrey Rublev won the battle of former champions as the Russian star beat Ugo Humbert of France 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 to enter the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday.
Champion in 2022, Rublev overcame a spirited challenge from the 2024 Dubai winner to continue his good run of form, having reached the Qatar Open semifinals last week.
Meanwhile, top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada overcame a poor start to beat French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.
Despite trailing 1-4 in the first set, Auger-Aliassime fought back against the big-serving Frenchman to reach the quarters.
In last eight, Auger-Aliassime will face the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka who beat Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain 7-6 (8/6) 6-4.
But second seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan slumped to a 6-3 7-6 (7/4) defeat to Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands.
Griekspoor’s reward is a quarterfinal clash with sixth seed Jakub Menšík of Czech Republic.
The 20-year-old Czech rising star defeated Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-3 6-2.
In the last match of the night, British fourth seed Jack Draper was knocked out by Arthur Rinderknech of France.
The Frenchman won an engrossing three-set battle 7-5 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal clash with Rublev.
Source: Khaleej Times