Top seed Daniil Medvedev had a more comfortable victory in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-3. The Russian, who had struggled in the second round, only needed one hour and 17 minutes to secure the win, hitting 15 winners, three aces, and making just six unforced errors.
His opponent in the semifinals will be fifth seed Ugo Humbert of France, who outlasted No. 3 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in a tough three-set match. Humbert saved three match points in the second-set tiebreak and eventually won 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-3, hitting 24 winners in the process.
Two other seeded players advanced to the semifinals due to their unseeded opponents retiring mid-match. No. 2 Andrey Rublev of Russia moved on after American Sebastian Korda retired in the second set, while No. 7 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan advanced when Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka retired in the first set.
In the Movistar Chile Open, fourth-seeded Alejandro Tabilo emerged victorious in an all-Chilean second-round match against Tomas Barrios Vera, winning 6-2, 7-5. Tabilo dominated the match, winning 91 percent of his first-serve points and avoiding facing any break points.
Next, Tabilo will face Italy’s Luciano Darderi in the quarterfinals, who defeated Argentine qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo in three sets. Second-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina also advanced, rallying past Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas in three sets to set up a quarterfinal clash with eighth-seeded Jaume Munar of Spain.
Arthur Fils of France will take on Spain’s Pedro Martinez in the other quarterfinal matchup, while top-seeded Nicolas Jarry of Chile will face French qualifier Corentin Moutet in the final quarterfinal match.
–Field Level Media
