Andy Murray pulled off another thrilling three-set victory on Friday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where the Briton saved five match points to down Jiri Lehecka 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(6) and reach his first ATP Tour final since last June. (Watch Medvedev v Murray Saturday 4pm CET/10am ET)

In an engaging clash of generations and gamestyles in Doha, the determined defence and consistent baseline hitting of former World No. 1 Murray prevailed in dramatic fashion against the greater power of 21-year-old Jiri Lehecka. The Briton recovered a 3-5 deficit in the final set, a comeback which included breaking Lehecka when trailing 4-5, 40/0 on the Czech’s serve.

“I don’t know [how I won],” said a disbelieving Murray after the match. “That was one of the most amazing turnarounds I’ve had in my career. You obviously had the three match points at 5-4, but also [two] when I was serving at 5-3, and then I don’t know.

“I knew it was his first time serving for a final, so I knew I had to try and keep the pressure on at the end. I know how difficult it is to serve matches like that out, but I’ve no idea how I managed to turn that one round to be honest.”

Another 3-set win for @andy_murray!!

Maintaining his forehand #ShotQuality level and using his court craft to disrupt Lehecka

Can he go one more and lift the title 🏆?#TennisInsights | @atptour pic.twitter.com/FbXa1RCdcX

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) February 24, 2023

Two-time Doha champion Murray converted his second match point in the deciding-set tie-break to complete a two-hour, 29-minute victory in which he struck just 17 winners to Lehecka’s 44, but also converted five of his nine break points. He will take on Daniil Medvedev in Saturday’s championship match, after the third seed later defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6(7).

It was the Briton’s fourth three-set win in as many matches this week in Qatar, where he has also gone the distance in victories against Lorenzo Sonego, Alexander Zverev and Alexandre Muller. The victory improved Murray’s record for 2023 to 6-2, with all six of his wins coming in deciding sets.

The 35-year-old has not won a tour-level match in straight sets since beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Gijon first round on 11 October last year, but his persistence this week has nonetheless earned the Briton a record fifth Doha championship match appearance.

“This tournament over the years has had many great players,” said Murray when asked about his new record. “[Roger] Federer played a lot, and guys like [Andy] Roddick and [Rafael] Nadal, Novak [Djokovic] has played. Those guys have obviously achieved a lot more than me but this is one small win that I can have over them, so I’ll enjoy this evening and hopefully I can put on a good performance tomorrow.”

Friday’s late drama came after Murray had made a straightforward start to his maiden ATP Head2Head clash with Lehecka. The 6-0 opening-set scoreline represented a change of tune for the Briton by his own standards in Doha this week, as he stayed solid in all facets of his game to expertly capitalise on a wayward start from his opponent.

Lehecka responded immediately, finding his rhythm behind his huge serve and booming forehand to claim the second set after clinching its only break of serve in the second game. That combination looked set to guide the Czech to victory as he also made the early running in the deciding set. Two breaks of the Murray serve in the opening five games, one of which was immediately reclaimed by the Briton, helped the Czech establish his 5-3 lead.

Cue Murray’s inspired intervention. The 46-time tour-level titlist saved Lehecka’s first two match points when serving at 3-5, but when the Czech opened up a 40/0 lead in the following game, Murray’s hopes of reaching a record fifth Doha final looked lost. Yet some free-flowing baseline hitting, particularly off the backhand wing, heaped pressure onto Lehecka and secured a crucial break. The wild card then held firm in the deciding tie-break for a famous semi-final triumph.

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden capped a week of Match Tie-break redemption at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Friday, when they edged Constant Lestienne and Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-6 to lift their maiden ATP Tour title as a team.

Despite losing a tie-break to drop a see-saw opening set that featured six breaks of serve, the Indian-Australian pair held its nerve to complete a 99-minute final victory. Bopanna and Ebden converted four of six break point opportunities and took command early in the Match Tie-break, opening 4/1 and 9/4 leads en route to their win.

Last weekend, Bopanna and Ebden suffered final heartbreak in Rotterdam, where they held a championship point in the Match Tie-break before falling to Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek. This week in Doha, the third-seeded pair sealed three of its four victories in Match Tie-breaks, including Friday’s final.

It was Bopanna’s second title in Doha. The 42-year-old lifted the trophy there in 2018 alongside Wesley Koolhof, while he also reached the 2022 final with Denis Shapovalov. His partner Ebden is the first Australian titlist, in singles or doubles, in the history of the Doha event.

Bopanna and Ebden are now 7-3 for 2023, having begun their partnership in Adelaide in January.

Mahut/Martin Book Final Spot In Marseille
At the Open 13 Provence, Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin defeated Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn 7-5, 7-5 to secure their place in Sunday’s championship match at the indoor ATP 250.

Home favourites Mahut and Martin broke decisively in the 12th game of both sets in Marseille to secure a 90-minute semi-final victory against the Monegasque-Austrian duo Arneodo and Weissborn. The second-seeded Frenchman will take on top seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin or Indian pair N.Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in the final.

Cabal/Melo Charge Into Rio Final
In Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Melo is one win away from his first title on home soil since Costa do Sauipe in 2011 after he and Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal defeated Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-4, 6-4. Melo has won 36 titles during his career but has never lifted the trophy in Rio.

In Saturday’s final Cabal and Melo will play fellow South Americans Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molten after the Argentines defeated fourth seeds Francisco Cabral and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-4.

Juan Sebastian Cabal and Marcelo Melo dominated the Argentine team of Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Diego Schwartzman on Thursday at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The second seeds earned a 6-1, 6-2 win in the all-South American quarter-final, not allowing a break point in the match.

Home favourite Melo is lone Brazilian remaining in the singles or doubles draw at the ATP 500.

The Colombian-Brazilian duo will meet Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the semi-finals after their 7-5, 6-4 win against Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow.

Fourth seeds Francisco Cabral and Horacio Zeballos also advanced to the last four with a 6-4, 7-6(4) win against Gonzalo Escobar and Tomislav Brkic.

Marseille Success For Home Favourites
Three Frenchmen are through to the semi-finals at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille after Thursday wins.

Second seeds Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin progressed with a 6-3, 6-4 result against Jonathan Eysseric and Denys Molchanov, while Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Mexican Santiago Gonzalez — the top seeds at the ATP 250 — scored a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Luca Sanchez and Petros Tsitsipas. Neither team has lost a set in their two Marseille matches.

Mahut/Martin will face N.Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan after their 3-6, 7-6(4), 13-11 win against Dustin Brown and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. After leading 9/6 in the Match Tie-break, the Indian duo erased a match point at 10/11 before clinching victory on their fifth chance.

Gonazlez/Roger-Vasselin will meet Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn, who received a walkover in the quarters.

Doha Final Set
Third seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden will meet Constant Lestienne and Botic van de Zandschulp in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final after both teams advanced on Thursday at the ATP 250.

Bopanna/Ebden were 6-4, 6-3 winners against Britons Daniel Evans Jonny O’Mara, while Lestinne/van de Zandschulp edged the Finnish pair of Patrik Niklas-Salminen and Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 by winning the final two points of a neck-and-neck Match Tie-break.

The final will open Friday’s play on centre court at 3:30 p.m. local time.

The ATP Challenger event in Monterrey, Mexico is not only a fan favourite, but consistently ranks towards the top of players’ lists as well.

Club Sonoma, where the Challenger 125 event is hosted, sits under breathtaking views of the Nuevo León mountains. The tournament has a plethora of off-court activities for fans to enjoy alongside world-class tennis. Next week, there will also be a WTA 250 event at the venue. Autograph sessions and interactive kids clinics are organised throughout the week. A hospitality area is filled with food trucks, vendors and games for fans to enjoy.

Among players’ favourite aspects of the tournament are the views, first-class organisation, and everything that Monterrey has to offer as one of Mexico’s largest cities.

“The Challenger 125s tend to be higher quality and I think this one is special even among those. We have everything here,” World No. 103 Nuno Borges told ATPTour.com. “I really like the views. The hotel and the club have nice views, that was my first impression. The courts are pretty quick too because it’s at altitude.

“I’d like to go for a hike in Monterrey, but it’s not very energy efficient! Hopefully when I’m done with the tournament, I can explore a little bit.”

Past champions at the Abierto GNP Seguros include David Ferrer (2018), Alexander Bublik (2019) and Fernando Verdasco (2022). Now in its eighth edition, the Monterrey Challenger always finds ways to improve.

“It’s one of the best Challengers I’ve played, it might be number one, honestly,” World No. 124 Aleksandar Kovacevic said. “The fans here are unbelievable. I don’t know where they come from. I guess they do a good job of marketing the tournament. It’s amazing, I love it here. The other night against Adrian Mannarino was one of the coolest experiences in tennis and I’ve played in some decent stadiums, so I would say that’s saying something.

Aleksandar Kovacevic greets fans at the 2023 Monterrey Challenger. Credit: Abierto GNP Seguros

“I wouldn’t consider myself in any sense a big shot. Having that many people ask for my autograph is flattering but also a bit confusing. I hope in the future to have more of those moments.”

Mexican doubles players Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela and Hans Hach Verdugo, who saved three match points Thursday to advance to the semi-finals, are aiming to collect the trophy on home soil this weekend. The duo shared that the minute details of the tournament go a long way to leave a strong impression on players.

“It’s special for us to be at home, we look forward to it,” Reyes-Varela said. “I think tournaments in Mexico are very well organised, that’s a common thing you hear from players. Puerto Vallarta and Monterrey have both won Challenger Of The Year before. They try to take care of players.”

“I don’t think many Challengers have the stadium we have here,” Hach Verdugo said. “The amount of courts we have for practice is a lot, like seven practice courts. There’s always people taking care of the players’ lounge and transportation. It’s a great atmosphere. Mexico likes to host and have foreigners. That’s why they’ve won many awards on the Challenger Tour.

“They’ve had a bunch of activities, I heard the players’t party was out of this world but I wasn’t able to attend, I was still in Delray Beach. They want to do things right. Every year is better.”

Carlos Alcaraz’s title defence at the Rio Open presented by Claro picked up steam on Thursday, but not before a vintage opening set from Fabio Fognini threatened the Spaniard’s reign at the Brazilian ATP 500.

In a rematch of their 2022 Rio de Janeiro semi-final, Alcaraz earned an entertaining 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 victory, improving to 6-0 on the season as he bids to back up his Cordoba title with second trophy in as many weeks on the South American clay.

“It was really tough. Both Fabio and I played such a high level, great points, great shots,” Alcaraz said post-match, later admitting to feeling tired but ready for more. “It’s amazing to play these kinds of matches. I would say both players played almost our 100 per cent.”

Alcaraz led 3-0 in the opening set and had two break points for 4-0 before Fognini stormed back into the match with his unique brand of shotmaking, frequently leaving his opponent and the Rio crowd stunned with his inventiveness. After breaks in seven of the set’s final eight games, Fognini’s brilliance peaked at 4/5 in the tie-break, when a casual pickup volley came off inch perfect to spark a run of three points to seal the set.

“I struggled with my serve a little bit. I was up with a lot of control of the match. But a lot of breaks of serve in a row,” Alcaraz said of the eventful opening set. “I got a little bit down in that moment and it was tough to come back after that.

“But I know that a tennis match is really long. I was going to have my chances to improve the game on my serve and I think I did.”

As Alcaraz left the court following the first set, Fognini had his right ankle taped. The Italian struggled with the issue early in set two, and this time Alcaraz saw home his 3-0 advantage. A moment of good sportsmanship briefly cut the tension as Alcaraz helped Fognini to his feet after the 35-year-old slipped while running down a drop shot — a shot both men used to great effect throughout the highlight-filled match.

Despite the fall, Fognini’s movement improved as the match wore on. Undeterred, Alcaraz built a 3-0 lead for the third consecutive set in the decider. While the Italian clawed back to 3-2, he could not generate a break chance in his final three return games despite twice bringing up 30/30.

A winner after two hours and 48 minutes on Court Guga Kuerten, Alcaraz will next face the winner of the all-Serbian matchup between Laslo Djere and Dusan Lajovic.

Fognini, who won all five of his break points, was seeking his first win in his past 14 attempts against Top 10 opponents.

Earlier on Thursday, Bernabe Zapata Miralles upset fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 4-6, 6-1. He will next meet fellow Spaniard and seventh seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the quarter-finals, after his 6-2, 6-4 win against Daniel Elahi Galan.

Sixth seed Sebastian Baez also progressed to the last eight with a 7-5, 7-6(6) result against Juan Pablo Varillas, setting up a meeting with Nicolas Jarry. The Chilean defeated Pedro Martinez 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday.

The fourth Rio quarter-final will see Wednesday winners Cameron Norrie and Hugo Dellien square off. Norrie, seeded second, remains on a collision course with Alcaraz for a rematch of their Cordoba final.

If you can’t find Aleksandar Kovacevic on the tennis court or on a plane, perhaps you should look to the mountain slopes to find the American who is making quick progress on the ATP Challenger Tour.

“My favourite thing to do in the world is snowboard,” Kovacevic said when sharing his love for thrill-seeking activities such as jet-skiing and skydiving. “In 2022, I went and snowboarded with my buddy who lives in Lake Tahoe, California. I was there for like four days during the Australian Open because I didn’t qualify. But this year I went to Australia, so I missed out on snowboarding.

“I grew up in New York City, so I’d go to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, it’s about a 90-minute drive from where I lived. I sustained some injuries from snowboarding when I was younger because all my friends were regular people, they didn’t play sports like I did. All they wanted to do was try tricks at the terrain park and I was a little kid trying all these tricks. I wasn’t very good so I hurt myself a lot. Now, I’m a little smarter.”

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The 24-year-old, who is competing at this week’s Monterrey Challenger, misses the days when he had more spare time to pack his gear and head out for a getaway, but now he’s focused on a different mountain: climbing the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Earlier this month, the former University of Illinois standout earned his maiden Challenger title in Cleveland, Ohio before rising to a career-high 122. En route to the title, the two-time ITA All-American needed a deciding set in four of his five matches and took out the top three seeds: Emilio Gomez, Steve Johnson, and Wu Yibing, whom the American defeated in a highly-contested championship match.

“To win my first Challenger there was special, it feels great,” Kovacevic said. “It’s something I wanted to check off my list before moving into ATP. Not something that I had to check off or that it was necessary to get into the Top 100 or 50, but definitely a plus. It’s something I’m happy to put behind me.”

The Cleveland Challenger wasn’t the first time Kovacevic and Wu met in a tight battle. In July, the Chinese star fended off Kovacevic’s six championship points to grab the Indianapolis Challenger title. A week after Kovacevic was crowned champion in Ohio, the 23-year-old Wu completed a dream run at the Dallas Open. Despite falling short in Indianapolis, Kovacevic kept his head high and waited for a rematch.

“It was definitely tough,” Kovacevic said. “I don’t think I necessarily choked that final. I didn’t feel as down about it as maybe I would be if I had the match on my racquet or something. But it was definitely tough, I had six match points. What I learned from that final is I have to be ready to play with that guy. When I first played him in Indianapolis, I brought a pretty good level but I was pretty impressed with him.

Aleksandar Kovacevic in action at the 2023 Cleveland Challenger. Credit: Ben Peskar

“In the first set of the Cleveland final I remember thinking, ‘This guy is the best tennis player I’ve ever seen in my life.’ Then seeing him beat Top-10 players was a little eye-opening for me because not only did I beat him recently, it was just a few days before. Me and him are good friends too and a lot of the guys that are coming up that have made some breakthroughs, I’m good friends with. Trying to be part of that crew is cool.”

Kovacevic made his Tour-level debut at last year’s ATP 250 event in Seoul, where as a lucky loser he defeated the-then World No. 32 Miomir Kecmanovic and completed a semi-final run before falling to eventual champion Yoshihito Nishioka.

The New York City native, who now lives and trains in Boca Raton, Florida, has his sights set on more ATP Tour breakthroughs. Still early in his career, Kovacevic is determined for a strong showing in 2023.

“I’d like to finish the year Top 50, that’d be nice. Obviously Top 100 is the immediate, short-term goal. Given the opportunities coming up, if I can make the Top 100, I think I can make a push to the Top 50. Ultimately, my goal is to be Top 10 one day but that’s far away as of now.”

For a 35-year-old with a metal hip, Andy Murray has spent quite a bit of time on court this season: more than 20 hours across his past six matches, to be exact. Given his age and recent injury struggles, it might be assumed that those marathon matches would favour his opponents. The reality is the opposite, far from the first time the Briton has proven conventional wisdom wrong.

Murray has notched five ATP Tour victories this year. Each one of them was won in a deciding set.

“The last couple of years I lost quite a lot of close matches, and it’s something I spoke to my team about last year,” Murray said this week in Doha, where he has won three three-setters to advance to his 102nd tour-level semi-final. “I think the work I did in the offseason on my game, physically has given me a bit more belief in those moments.

“I think when you’re in better shape, when you start to fatigue, it helps you make better decisions. If you’re struggling quite a bit physically towards the end of matches and in those important moments, it makes you maybe try and shorten the points, or play a different way, which doesn’t give you the best chance of wining. I feel like that improvement physically has helped in those moments.”

After a pair of marathon five-setters at the Australian Open, Murray has continued his penchant for long-running matches this week at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. The 35-year-old’s most recent win came on Thursday, a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback against Alexandre Muller in the quarter-finals of the ATP 250. Clocking in at two hours and four minutes, that match wrapped up the blink of an eye compared to Murray’s other recent exploits.

“I’ve been playing a lot of tennis the last few days, and [doing that again] wasn’t going to give me the best chance to win the match, so I stepped up, started taking a few chances, tried to come to the net when I got the opportunity and managed to turn it around,” @andy_murray pic.twitter.com/9EVZA0NcP6

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) February 23, 2023

The former World No. 1 opened his Doha campaign Monday by saving three match points in another come-from-behind effort, a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) win against Lorenzo Sonego that required two hours, 30 minutes. On Wednesday, he was on the court for more than three hours in a 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-5 upset of Alexander Zverev. While he did not have to save a match point in that second-round contest, he was twice two points from defeat as he served to stay in the match at 4-5 in the third.

“Obviously I would like to win the matches quicker,” Murray said after defeating the fourth-seeded German. His mother, Judy Murray, chimed in on Twitter earlier in the week: “A straight-sets win once in a while would be nice. 🎢” she wrote.

But as long as he’s winning, neither will mind too much. No doubt Murray is taking confidence from his ability to back up one gruelling victory with another, just as he did at the Aussie Open last month.

The word “epic” is perhaps too freely thrown around to describe many tennis matches, but Murray’s two Melbourne wins define the term.

Facing 13th seed and returning AO semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini in the first round, Murray earned his first Top 20 victory at a Grand Slam in more than five years with a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(10-6) result. Match time: four hours, 49 minutes.

“I’ll be feeling this this evening and tomorrow, but right now I’m just unbelievably happy, very proud of myself,” Murray said after the instant classic, in which he saved a match point at 4-5 in the fifth before clinching victory with a friendly net cord in the decisive tie-break.

He flirted with the five-hour mark again in the second round, staging an inspired comeback to knock off home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 after four hours, 45 minutes. In his record 11th comeback from two sets down, Murray withstood 102 winners, including 37 aces, from the Aussie. Murray’s Melbourne run was ultimately ended by Roberto Bautista Agut, but not until another three hours, 29 minutes of drama unfolded.

On Friday in Doha, Murray will seek that elusive straight-sets win against AO quarter-finalist Jiri Lehecka. The good news for the Briton: at the very most, he only has six more sets to play this week.

If you have checked the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this week, you might have noticed that Carlos Alcaraz has an opportunity to tie World No. 1 Novak Djokovic by winning the Rio Open presented by Claro. However, the Spaniard cannot return to World No. 1 next Monday.

When two players are tied for the same spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the first tie-break goes to the player who has more points at the mandatory events: the Nitto ATP Finals, Grand Slams and ATP Masters 1000s. Djokovic has 5,820 points at those tournaments compared to Alcaraz’s 5,090.

Therefore, even if Alcaraz defends his Rio de Janeiro title and matches the number of points Djokovic will have Monday (6,980), the Serbian will remain No. 1 and Alcaraz No. 2. 

The battle for No. 1 will heat up next week, with both men set to compete in ATP 500 events. Alcaraz is scheduled to play in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, and Djokovic will lead the way at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

If Alcaraz emerges victorious in Rio de Janeiro and next week advances further in the draw in Acapulco than Djokovic does in Dubai, the Spaniard will return to World No. 1 on 6 March. Even if the 19-year-old does not triumph in Brazil, he will still have a chance depending on the Serbian’s result in Dubai.

“It has been a long time [I spent] at No. 1,” Alcaraz said last week in Buenos Aires, where he made his return after more than three months away due to injury. “Now it’s a goal for me to recover No. 1 and try to do my best in these tournaments to be back on that number. I’m looking for that.”

Last September, Alcaraz became the youngest World No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The 19-year-old held top spot for 20 weeks before relinquishing it when Djokovic lifted the Australian Open trophy.

Hubert Hurkacz survived a scare against #NextGenATP Swiss Leandro Riedi at the Open Provence 13 on Thursday to reach his first tour-level quarter-final of the season.

In a hard-fought clash in Marseille, the top-seeded Pole produced a strong serving performance in the second and third sets to earn a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory at the ATP 250 event.

The World No. 11, who is making his third appearance at the hard-court tournament, won 100 per cent (24/24) of his first-serve points in the second and third sets, overpowering the 21-year-old Riedi to triumph after one hour and 49 minutes.

“Leandro can play at a super high level and he started well. It was a battle. He won the first set and was playing really well, but I was just trying to compete,” Hurkacz said in his on-court interview. “The crowd is amazing, it is so nice. It is so much fun.

“I have been training really well the whole year. Everything has been going well. I just need some results, so maybe here.”

Hurkacz will continue the quest for his sixth tour-level title when he plays Mikael Ymer in the quarter-finals. The Swede received a walkover from sixth seed David Goffin.

Riedi was competing against a Top 15 opponent for the first time after defeating Arthur Rinderknech in the first round. The 21-year-old, who won two ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2022, is up nine places to No. 124 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

#NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils advanced to the quarter-finals when second seed Jannik Sinner withdrew ahead of their match due to illness. The 18-year-old will next play a man more than twice his age, 37-year-old Stan Wawrinka, the former World No. 3.

Daniil Medvedev extended his winning streak to seven matches Thursday when he clawed past Christopher O’Connell 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.

With his one-hour, 55-minute victory, Medvedev has improved to 2-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against O’Connell. The 27-year-old will continue the quest for his 17th tour-level title when he plays second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last four.

“At 5-5 in the third, you have a last chance to break him and then serve for the match. I managed to play quite a good game,” Medvedev said. “He missed a few shots that he didn’t miss before. It was an important moment in the match and that made me win today.”

The third seed was zoned in during the first set, striking with consistency to outlast the Australian in the baseline exchanges to move ahead. Medvedev suffered a dip in the second set, though, as O’Connell started to close the net effectively to push his opponent into errors and force a decider. However, Medvedev remained calm and increased his level deep in the third set, gaining the crucial break in the 11th game before holding serve to advance.

“Everything depends on small moments,” Medvedev said. “Sometimes confidence, sometimes pure luck. I have lost close matches in my life and won some. I am trying to use my experience to make it better. I am happy it worked today.”

Medvedev arrived at the ATP 250 event in red-hot form, having captured the crown in Rotterdam. His victory in the Netherlands moved him back inside the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The World No. 8, who is 12-2 on the season, is making his debut in Doha. He defeated Liam Broady in straight sets in his opening match.

O’Connell was aiming to reach his second tour-level semi-final, having advanced to that stage in San Diego last season.

Medvedev will try to maintain his form against Auger-Aliassime, whom he defeated in last week’s Rotterdam quarter-finals to take a 5-0 lead in their ATP Head2Head series. The Canadian ousted Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 7-6(5).

“I hope that I can do better than last week for sure,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It’s kind of a chess game to play Daniil. It’s really tough. He’s gotten me every time since we’ve played, so hopefully tomorrow I’ll get my shot and try to win.”

Auger-Aliassime won 86 per cent of his first-serve points against Davidovich Fokina and saved the two break points he faced to move on after one hour and 48 minutes.

“He’s one of the toughest competitors on Tour,” Auger-Aliassime said of Davidovich Fokina. “We’ve always had some crazy battles even back in the juniors. We’re around the same age, so I’ve known him for a long time. He’s a great guy, great player. And again, tonight was a battle.”