Jakub Mensik followed up his stunning victory over Andy Murray, by eliminating the top seeded Andrey Rublev in the quarter finals of the Quatar Open in Doha, in the upset of the week.
Mensik, the 18-year-old Czech ranked 116, required three sets to defeat the veteran Brit in round two, at three hours and 23-minutes the longest match in the tournament’s history, but required just two bring down the Russian in 96-minutes.
He stunned the world No.5, Rublev, a former Qatar champion, 6-4 7-6(6) in what is his debut on the ATP Tour, using aggressive play at the crucial moments with the Russian unable to break him on six occasions.
“It’s just been an incredible week from the beginning I played very well and I knew I could play with the big players. It’s an amazing feeling to reach the semi-finals after beating those good players,” Mensik said.
“But the job is not done yet. Hopefully I can play like this again in the semis tomorrow and go on to make the final.”
The second set tiebreak was tense and got even tighter when Rublev netted a routine forehand to fall 6-7 behind allowing the teenager the opportunity to serve out, which he duly did and, following his win, dropped to his knees in delight.
Next up for the young Czech is the French entertainer, Gael Monfils, who took out his compatriot Ugo Humbert, the third seed, 6-2 6-4 to record the second upset of the day.
In the bottom half Australia’s Alexei Popyrin will face Russia’s Karen Khachanov, the second seed for a place in the final. Popyrin beat the fourth seeded Kazak, Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-4 while Khachanov was handed his semi-final place when Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori pulled out injured after 13-minutes with the score line standing at 3-0 in the Russian’s favour.
Jakub Mensik (L)shakes hands with Andrey Rublev after defeating him in the quarter final.
(Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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