Today's Edition
Dubai (Aletihad)
Andy Murray's hopes of a Dubai fairytale on what is likely to be his last appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships were brought to a halt by in-form Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-2, 6-4 on Centre Court at Dubai Tennis Stadium on Wednesday night.
The three-time Grand Slam champion, a winner of this tournament in 2017, cut a frustrated figure against the No.5 seed, 11 years his junior.
Meanwhile, top seed Daniil Medvedev recovered from a slow start to rally past Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 500 event for the second time.
The defending champion struggled on serve in the first set, winning just 53%. However, he hit with much more aggression in the second and third sets, firing off both wings to back up pinpoint first serves. "I went on court and was not feeling right. I was too nervous and too tight, which does not happen often to me," Medvedev said.
Clearly desperate to give his vocal Dubai fans something to cheer, Murray, who beat Fernando Verdasco in the final here seven years ago, was constantly talking to himself as he tried to cope with the energy of his opponent.
The 36-year-old Scot won the opening game on serve but Humbert, who needed three sets to see off veteran wildcard Gael Monfils in his opening match, broke the Murray serve twice in succession and simply had too much for Murray as he took out the set 6-2.
The second set followed a similar path with Murray holding serve in the opening game, only for Humbert to break twice in a row and showed calmness to see out the set, wrap up victory and seal a quarter-final spot. Murray was giving a standing ovation as he left the court for a final time in Dubai, with fans acknowledging his service to not just the sport but to the evolution of this tournament.
Speaking after the straight defeat, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist admitted to the media he is approaching the closing stages of his illustrious career. "Yeah, I mean, I'm likely not going to play past this summer," Murray said.
I get asked about it after every single match, tournament that I play. I'm not going to talk more about that between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop.
"But yeah, I don't plan on playing much past this summer.".@andy_murray recalls his top #DDFTennis moment with @rogerfederer and @AndreAgassi on the @BurjAlArab helipad! 🌟 Unforgettable moment.@atptour pic.twitter.com/gJUuk0FB6L
— Dubai Tennis Champs (@DDFTennis) February 28, 2024
For his part Humbert, who has an ATP title to his name already this year following victory in Marseille, was a picture of relaxation as he celebrated his victory and a spot in the quarter-finals.
"Consistency has been the key for me this year," said the 25-year-old. "I'm really happy that I'm playing well. It's really nice to play in a venue like this in front of a great crowd. I was really calm today and knew what I needed to do."
In the bottom half of the draw, No.2 seed and last year's beaten finalist Andrey Rublev became the first man to book a quarter-final spot, ending the dream of French qualifier Arthur Cazaux in the process.
Cazaux, making his debut in Dubai this week had produced some fine tennis to get through the qualifiers and see off Italy's Lorenzo Musetti in the last 32. But Rublev took control of the match from the opening game, breaking his opponent's serve and holding firm to take the first set 6-4.
The second set went with serve until Rublev, a winner in Hong Kong earlier this year, broke Cazaux in game seven and held his subsequent service games to seal a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Bublik booked his place in the quarters with a 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2) victory over Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands. Bublik, who survived a scare in his opening match of the week, coming back from a set down against qualifier Tomas Machac, was pushed hard again by Griekspoor, but dug deep to take victory.
