Alexei Popyrin has powered into his first ATP semi-final of the season at the Qatar Open with a surprisingly crisp and straightforward defeat of the unpredictable Alexander Bublik in Doha.
The Sydneysider raced to a 6-4 6-4 victory at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, a terrific win against the fourth seed Bublik, the world No.21 who's ranked 25 places higher than the Aussie on the ATP computer.
It's set up Popyrin's first semi-final appearance since Umag, Croatia last July, a tournament he went on to win.
Now the 24-year-old will face Russian No.2 seed Karen Khachanov in the last-four as he scents the prospect of a third tour title and the possibility that he could move up a place to No.2 in the Australian rankings next week.
Popyrin's first title came when he beat Bublik in the Singapore final in 2021 and this was his third win over the big-serving Kazakh, who never got his teeth into the contest until far too late in the second set when he demonstrated some belated defiance.
After nabbing a break in the third game, Popyrin proved dominant on serve in the opening set, not even coughing up a break point as he lost just seven points on his delivery.
Another break at the start of third put Popyrin in complete command, and after he broke Bublik to love to serve for the match at 5-2, it proved the only time he showed any nerves as the Kazakh broke back.
But it proved just a temporary reprieve as Popyrin added to his final tally of 23 winners en route to wrapping up his accomplished victory in 78 minutes.Â
His semi-final opponent Khachanov had an easier afternoon as Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori had to pull out of their last-eight encounter with injury after losing the first three games.
Star of the day, though, was unquestionably teenager Jakub Mensik, who continued his extraordinary breakthrough week by stunning world No.5 Andrey Rublev 6-4 7-6 (8-6) to reach his maiden tour semi-final.
Fresh from beating Andy Murray, the 18-year-old Czech became the youngest player to defeat a top-five player since Carlos Alcaraz beat Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2021 US Open.
"It's just been an incredible week. From the beginning I played very well and I knew I could play with the big players. It's an amazing feeling," said Mensik.
"But the job is not done yet. Hopefully, I can play like this again in the semis tomorrow and go on to make the final."
Next up, Mensik will face wildcard Gael Monfils - at 37, more than twice the youngster's age - who beat fellow Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-2 6-4 to become the oldest semi-finalist in the tournament's history.
