Alex de Minaur had to save seven match points, and earned one of his own, before falling to defeat against his Australian Open conqueror Andrey Rublev at the Qatar Open.

Andrey Rublev saved one match point and needed eight of his own to subdue Alex de Minaur 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8) in the Qatar Open quarterfinals. The tortuous journey to the win prompted Rublev to joke about de Minaur,

Andrey Rublev has saved one match point and needed eight of his own to subdue Alex de Minaur 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 in the Qatar Open quarterfinals in Doha.

Andrey Rublev (No. 10 in the world) faces Alex de Minaur (No. 8) in the quarterfinals at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.de Minaur is the favorite (-175) to get to the semifinals compared

Four of the top-seeded players of the Qatar Open advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, and Jack Draper won their matches in straight sets. Top-seeded player Carlos Alcaraz can join them among the last eight later if he beats Italy’s Luca Nardi.

Andrey Rublev enters the competition bearing the Russian flag with an ATP 10 ranking and a 6-4 win-loss record for form. His round-of-16 win against Nuno Borges, which he took in straight sets (6-3, 6-4),