Qatar ExxonMobil Open enters Semifinals stage
DOHA, January 05, 2018 - Top seed Dominic Thiem of Austria along with emerging Russian star Andrey Rublev advanced into the semi-finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open registering hard fought wins in Doha Thursday.
World No.5 Thiem took one hour forty minutes to overcame the challenge of Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas. Thiem, the only seed left in the competition, experienced a few hiccups before overcoming the Greek teenager 7-5, 6-4.
Tsitsipas, 19, the youngest quarter-finalist in Doha for more than a decade was highly impressive in beating number five seed Richard Gasquet in the second round but Thiem put all his experience to good use to end the impressive run of his opponent.
“It was my best game today for sure so far. And I will try to play the same tomorrow. I know the opponents. I know Gojowczyk, I know Monfils. I know both of them. So it's going to be nothing new. Both of them are really good players. Going to be fun. Doesn't matter against who," Thiem said.
The other quarter-final between Rublev and Borna Coric, a clash between two generation next players, saw Rublev come on top. The 20-year-old eased past the 21-year-old Croatian Coric in straight sets to set up a clash with World No. 64 Guido Pella of Argentina for a place in the final.
The World No.39 from Moscow won 6-3, 7-5 in a match which lasted 90 minutes on the centre court of the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Coric, who defeated second seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in the earlier rounds could not produce the same brand of tennis which came handy for him in earlier matches.
Rublev dominated play with some attacking tennis hitting 35 winners on the way.
The match, a rematch of the Next Generation ATP Finals 2017 in Rome, saw the Russian extend his winning his streak over Coric.
Rublev, who defeated Coric in the semi-finals of the year-ending Italian event, broke Coric's serve in the eleventh game of the final set, which turned out to be a turning point of the encounter. “It was a great match for me. I was playing really well today and I hope I can play even better tomorrow. But we'll see."
Rublev said he went into the match with an attacking game plan which worked for him. “I knew since the beginning of the match that I have to try to dictate the point. I had to try to attack. I had to try to lead. That was the key. I was trying to do this since the beginning and I think it was working quite well. And in the end, I won," said the Russian right hander.
“Both of us was really, really close. He had some breakpoints. He had break up. But then I come back. So it was a really tough match and it was really close," he added. “In the end I was little bit more lucky.
“Maybe a little bit better in crucial stages of the match and then I win the match," he said. Meanwhile, World No. 64, Pella ended the dream run of Bosnian qualifier Mirza Basic, dropping just five games to advance to the last four stage.
Basic, who made it the main round of 32 through the qualifying and who continued his impressive with wins over players ranked much higher to him finally found his match in Pella.
The World No. 128, who upset tournament's eighth seed Feliciano Lopez to reach the quarter finals, found the Argentinean too tough for his asking. The Argentinian easily saw off, 26-year-old Basic 6-2, 6-3.
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