Auger-Aliassime into his 3rd semifinal of year after ill Medvedev retires from match

Canada's Félix Auger-Aliassime will face Andrey Rublev in the Qatar Open semifinals after he beat fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev when the latter retired after losing the first set 6-3 on Thursday in Doha.

"I felt he was playing normal," Auger-Aliassime said on court. "And then I broke, I held my serve. And he just told [the umpire] that he didn't want to shake our hands because he was sick. I hope it's nothing too bad. I was surprised."

Auger-Aliassime advanced on Wednesday when second-round opponent Hamad Medjedovic withdrew with a right leg injury.

Ranked 23rd in the world, the Canadian is seeking his third ATP Tour title of the season.

Rublev saved one match point and needed eight of his own to subdue Alex de Minaur 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8) in their quarterfinal.

The tortuous journey to the win prompted Rublev to joke about de Minaur, "I wanna punch him."

The Russian fifth seed wasted a 5-2 lead in the last set against the Australian second seed, who forced the tiebreak with remarkable scrambling.

But after 2 1/2 hours, Rublev was through to his fourth semifinals in Doha, where he won the title in 2020.

SEMIFINALS BOUND