No. 7 seed Alexander Bublik and No. 5 Ugo Humbert will meet in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final after an eventful semifinal round Friday.
Bublik was ahead 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-5 when No. 2 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia was defaulted for unsportsmanlike conduct after making comments to a line judge.
Bublik, of Kazakhstan, finished the two-hour, 31-minute match with 21 aces and saved 11 of 14 break points. He posted 42 winners and 13 unforced errors, compared to 36 and 11 for Rublev.
Humbert took down top-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia 7-5, 6-3 in under two hours. The Frenchman saved all but one of the eight break points he faced and finished with a 30-21 advantage in winners.
Movistar Chile Open
French qualifier Corentin Moutet proved tough to beat in tiebreakers, emerging with a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) victory over top-seeded Nicolas Jarry of Chile in the quarterfinals at Santiago, Chile.
Moutet won the first five points of the first-set tiebreaker before sealing it on his third set point. Jarry won the first point of the second-set tiebreaker, but Moutet took the next six and wrapped up the victory on the third match point.
Moutet’s semifinal opponent will be another Chilean, fourth-seeded Alejandro Tabilo, who beat Italy’s Luciano Darderi 6-0, 7-5.
The other semifinal will feature second-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina and Spain’s Pedro Martinez. Baez downed eighth-seeded Jaume Munar of Spain 6-4, 6-4, and Martinez eliminated third-seeded Arthur Fils of France 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2.
Defending champion Alex de Minaur is back in the final at Acapulco, Mexico, after an abbreviated semifinal win.
The third-seeded Australian led Jack Draper 6-3, 2-6, 4-0 when the Englishman retired due to an undisclosed injury.
A steady ground game fueled de Minaur, who finished with 17 winners and just two unforced errors. Draper had 14 winners and nine unforced errors.
Casper Ruud will be de Minaur’s final-round opponent. The sixth-seeded Norwegian came from behind to beat second-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Rune dropped his serve three times in the third set, including in the penultimate game, and Ruud served out the match at love.
