DOHA — Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the semifinals of the Qatar Open tennis tournament after Russia's Daniil Medvedev retired from their quarterfinal with an illness.
Auger-Aliassime won the first set of Thursday's match 6-3 before Medvedev, who was seeded fourth at the ATP 500 tournament, left the court.
The 24-year-old Canadian won 89 per cent of his service points and had four aces in a dominant first set on which he didn't face break point.
Auger-Ailassime went up 4-3 in the set with a break, and won on return again in the deciding game.
"I felt he was playing normal, but I don't know. I don't know how he feels," Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. "But on my part, it felt very normal. And then I broke, I held my serve. And he just told (chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani) that he didn't want to shake our hands because he was sick.
"I hope it's nothing too bad. But of course, I was surprised."
Medvedev said in a statement that he withdrew due to food poisoning.
"Very disappointed to end my run here in Doha like this as I feel like I was playing well," he said.
Auger-Aliassime advanced to a semifinal Friday against Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev despite winning just one complete match in Doha.
He survived a tough first-round match against French qualifier Quentin Halys, then advanced to the quarterfinals when second-round opponent Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia withdrew with a leg injury he sustained in a first-round upset of sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
"It's a weird week so far because normally you win three matches to get to this part," Auger-Aliassime said. "I got through the first round, different conditions than the past weeks. And then after that, I played a set only when I should have won at least four. I don't know what to say, it's weird."
Auger-Aliassime had a similar path to the final of last year's Madrid Open, where he advanced with two mid-match retirements and a walkover before losing to Rublev in the championship match.
Auger-Aliassime improved to 2-7 against Medvedev and will also be in tough against Rublev, who holds a 5-1 advantage in their head-to-head series.
Auger-Aliassime, who came into the tournament ranked 23rd in the world, is seeking his eighth ATP title and third this year.
Rublev, advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8) win over second seed Alex de Minaur of Australia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2025.
The Canadian Press
