TOP seed Daniil Medvedev, after a battle in the second round, had a smoother outing Thursday in defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Medvedev had needed three sets to oust Italian Lorenzo Sonego a day earlier, but the Russian rode 15 winners, three aces and just six unforced errors to dispatch Spain's Davidovich Fokina in one hour and 17 minutes.
Fifth seed Ugo Humbert of France outlasted No. 3 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals against Medvedev. Humbert saved three match points in the second-set tiebreak. He hit 24 winners in the match lasting two hours and 24 minutes.
Two other seeded players advanced when their unseeded opponents retired due to injury during their quarterfinal matches. No. 2 Andrey Rublev of Russia eliminated American Sebastian Korda 6-4, 4-3 (retired), and No. 7 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan moved past the Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 4-1 (retired). — REUTERS