Qatar Open: Popyrin books spot in last four, beats Bublik

Australian Alexei Popyrin moved into the semi-finals of the Qatar Open by defeating Kazakh Alexander Bublik, the No 4 seed, 6-4, 6-4 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha on Thursday.

Popyrin, ranked No 46, will play the winner of the match between Finn Emil Ruusuvuori and Russian Karen Khachanov, the second seed, next.

The Australian edged out Jordanian wildcard Abdullah Shelbayh (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and won against French qualifier Hugo Grenier (7-6 (3), 6-7 (8), 6-1) ahead of his victory.

In the previous round of the Doha tournament, Bublik, ranked No 21, edged out Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (2-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Doha ATP 250, other last eight results (Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, hard, USD 1.395.875, most recent results first):

• Ugo Humbert vs. Gael Monfils
• Andrey Rublev vs. Jakub Mensik
• Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Karen Khachanov