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Seeded Dominic Thiem rose to the challenge of Russian wild card Aslan Karatsev on Wednesday in a comeback victory at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The world No.4 rebounded after exiting the fourth round of the Australian Open last month, beating Karatsev 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 56 minutes.
“We played in the juniors 10 or 11 years ago, and we also trained in Vienna, so it wasn’t completely new to me,” said Thiem, who hit nine aces and won 83% of his first serve points against Karatsev. “But he’s been so high in the last six months, especially last month in Australia.
“I was in the tie-break and then I lost him, which was not nice, but he helped me a bit in that first game [of the second set]. I think he hit two double faults. After losing a close set it is very important to have a good start in the next one. And that’s what I had. It was pretty quick, 3-0, so I was positive again in my mind. I also relaxed a bit and started to play better. “
Thiem will then face 2019 champion and fifth seed Roberto Bautista of Spain. A break of service in each set was enough for Bautista Agut to beat Kazakhstani Alexander Bublik, finalist in this season’s Antalya Open and Singapore Tennis Open, 6-4, 6-3 in 70 minutes. The Spaniard won 32 of 37 first serve points to advance to the quarter-finals.
In a high-quality first set, which did not feature a breakpoint en route to the tie-break, Thiem struggled to return Karatsev’s serve, but opened up a 5/2 advantage in the tie-break. Karatsev responded, winning the next five points to clinch the 52-minute opener, which ended in a backhand error from Thiem.
Thiem regrouped in the second set, with Karatsev paying the price for two double faults in the second game. Thiem varied his groundstroke length and serve pace to take a 3-0 lead and maintained the momentum by breaking Karatsev’s serve once again in the decider’s opener.
Last month, Karatsev became the first player in the open era (since April 1968) to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam championship on his main draw debut. The 27-year-old moved from 114th to 42nd in the FedEx ATP rankings after his performances in Melbourne. He also helped Russia win the ATP Cup crown (died in Italy).
Reigning champion Andrey Rublev, third seed of Russia, advanced to the Doha quarter-finals without hitting a ball after his opponent, Frenchman Richard Gasquet, from the 2013 Doha title list, was withdrawn before their match due to a leg injury.
Rublev could have a rematch of last week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament final if Hungarian Marton Fucsovics defeated Stan Wawrinka winner, qualifier Lloyd Harris of South Africa in the matchday three final match.
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