Tennis – ATP 500 – Dubai Tennis Championships – The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – February 24, 2022 Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely celebrates winning his quarter final match against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
February 25, 2022
Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely upset top-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6 (4) Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, ensuring the Serb’s time as the ATP Tour’s No. 1-ranked player will end after this week.
Vesely went ahead 5-3 in the second set before Djokovic charged back to force the tiebreaker. Vesely won the first three points, but Djokovic narrowed the deficit to 5-4 before Vesely put the match away.
Vesely will face Canadian No. 6 seed Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals after Shapovalov got by Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Second seed Andrey Rublev of Russia was a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 winner over American foe Mackenzie McDonald, and No. 5 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland dispatched fourth-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3. Rublev and Hurkacz will meet in the other semifinal.
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
Fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain and top-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia, both playing their first tournament since squaring off in the Australian Open final, will meet in the semifinals at Acapulco, Mexico.
Both won their quarterfinals in straight sets. Medvedev downed Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-3, and Nadal got past the United States’ Tommy Paul 6-0, 7-6 (5). Now Medvedev gets a chance to avenge his loss at Melbourne, Australia, last month, when he squandered a two-set lead as Nadal rallied to win his record 21st major championship.
Third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas also moved into the semifinals, topping the United States’ Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-4. The Greek player’s next opponent will be sixth-seeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Peter Gojowczyk of Germany in the late match Thursday night.
Chile Dove Men+Care Open
In a matchup of two countrymen competing on home soil, Alejandro Tabilo upset top-seeded Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals in Santiago, Chile.
Tabilo, who is ranked 113th in the world, faced just two break points in the match and saved one. Meanwhile, he took advantage of four of his six break opportunities.
His next opponent will be sixth-seeded Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, who demolished Brazil’s Matheus Pucinelli De Almeida 6-2, 6-0. Fourth-seeded Pedro Martinez, who beat Spanish countryman Jaume Munar 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in a 3 1/2-hour showdown, and Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, who eliminated Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-1, 6-3, will compete in another quarterfinal.
–Field Level Media
Source: One America News Network
