Rublev battles past Auger-Aliassime in Qatar to reach first final of year

Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 5 seed, moved into the final of the Qatar Open by edging out Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (5) at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha on Friday.

Rublev, ranked No 10, will face the winner of the match between Jiri Lehecka and No 8 seed Jack Draper next. It will be his third final in Qatar.

“It was super-tough today,” Rublev said, quoted by the ATP Tour website. “I felt like there was not much I can do if he is serving (that well). I just needed to be really lucky to break him…

“He was serving well and I was just saying, ‘OK, I cannot do much, this is one of the best servers on Tour. I just need to try to guess and when I have a moment, just go for it’. At 6-5 was the only match point I had, a good [opportunity], and I missed by a little bit. But it happened.”

The Russian won against Kazakh Alexander Bublik (6-3, 6-4), Portuguese Nuno Borges (6-3, 6-4) and Australian Alex De Minaur, the second seed (6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8)) ahead of his victory.

In the previous rounds of the Doha tournament, Auger-Aliassime, ranked No 23, defeated French qualifier Quentin Halys (4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2)), Serb Hamad Medjedovic (W/O) and Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 4 seed (6-3 ret.).

Doha ATP 500, other semi-final result (Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, hard, USD 3.035.960):

• Jiri Lehecka vs. Jack Draper