Czech teenager Jakub Mensik surprised high seed Andrey Rublev in straight units on the Qatar Open on Thursday to achieve his maiden ATP semifinal and assure a spot on the planet’s high 100 for the primary time.
The 18-year-old got here by 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) in opposition to the fifth-ranked Rublev, a day after defeating three-time Grand Slam title winner Andy Murray.
“It’s simply been an unbelievable week. From the start I performed very properly and I knew I may play with the large gamers. It’s a tremendous feeling to achieve the semi-finals after beating these good gamers,” stated wildcard Mensik who arrived within the Gulf ranked at 116.
“However the job will not be carried out but. Hopefully I can play like this once more within the semis and go on to make the ultimate.”
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Together with his one-hour, 38-minute win on Thursday, Mensik turned the youngest participant to defeat a top-five participant since Carlos Alcaraz overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas on the 2021 US Open.
Mensik will face Ugo Humbert or Gael Monfils, who meet later in an all-French quarter-final, for a spot in Saturday’s ultimate.
The opposite semifinal will see Australia’s Alexei Popyrin face Russian second seed Karen Khachanov.
Popyrin eased previous Kazakh fourth seed Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-4 whereas Khachanov went by when Finnish opponent Emil Ruusuvuori retired with an damage after simply three video games.