Medjedovic overcomes injury to upset Tsitsipas in Doha

Hamad Medjedovic picked up a borderline miracle victory over Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 6 seed, 7-6 (6), 5-7, 7-6 (5) to move into the second round of the Qatar Open at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha on Tuesday.

Medjedovic sustained an apparent hamstring injury at 4-4 in the third set when a slide resulted in a full split. The Serb went off court for treatment before coming back to hold serve for 5-4 and again for 6-5.

Eventually, another tiebreak had to decide the match. Playing aggressive tennis in an effort to keep points short, Medjedovic raced to a 4-1 lead and soon thereafter built a 6-3 advantage. Tsitsipas saved two match points on his serve to pull within 6-5, but a big first serve by Medjedovic allowed the underdog to limp across the finish line.

If he is able to play, the 73rd-ranked Medjedovic will meet Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday. Auger-Aliassime also prevailed in a final-set tiebreak, beating Quentin Halys.

Doha ATP 500, other first-round results:

• Matteo Berrettini beat Novak Djokovic (3): 7-6 (4), 6-2
• Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Quentin Halys (Q): 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
• Daniil Medvedev (4) beat Karen Khachanov: 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Alexander Bublik: 6-3, 6-4
• Tallon Griekspoor beat Jan-Lennard Struff: 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7)
• Zizou Bergs beat Roberto Bautista Agut: 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• Nuno Borges beat Otto Virtanen (LL): 7-6 (6), 6-3
• Alex De Minaur (2) beat Roman Safiullin: 6-1, 7-5
• Botic van de Zandschulp (Q) beat Abdullah Shelbayh (WC): 7-5, 6-3
• Luca Nardi (Q) beat Zhizhen Zhang: 6-4, 6-3
• Jack Draper (8) beat Alexei Popyrin: 6-2, 7-6 (4)
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Marin Cilic: 6-4, 6-4
• Fabian Marozsan beat Aziz Dougaz (WC): 7-5, 6-3
• Jiri Lehecka beat Grigor Dimitrov (7): 6-4, 6-4
• Christopher O’Connell (Q) beat Hady Habib (WC): 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3)

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