Alcaraz stunned in Qatar, Swiatek ousted in Dubai

DOHA, Qatar — Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz lost for just the second time this year on Thursday (Friday in Manila) when 25th-ranked Jiri Lehecka beat him 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open.

Alcaraz's only other defeat in 2025 was to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open quarterfinals. The 21-year-old Spaniard, ranked No. 3, won the Rotterdam Open earlier this month.

"I've talked with my team, with my coach, and honestly I don't know what I could have done better," Alcaraz said in a press conference. "Honestly, I don't know. It was kind of a difficult feelings, I guess. I have to give credit to him as well, because when he was down, especially in the third set, he didn't give up."

Alcaraz led 4-2 in the third set and had a break point on Lehecka's serve, but couldn't finish off the Czech, who won the next three games to advance to the semifinals.

The 23-year-old Lehecka will next play eighth-seeded Jack Draper, who knocked out Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

"The match was up and down since the beginning," Lehecka said after beating Alcaraz. "So for me to win a match like that against a player like this is a super big achievement. I believed in myself. I knew that I had the level to produce that kind of tennis.

Earlier, fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev saved one match point and needed eight of his own to subdue second-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8). Rublev reached his fourth semifinals in Doha, where he won the title in 2020.

He'll next face Canada's Félix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Daniil Medvedev when the Russian retired after losing the first set 6-3.

Swiatek bows to 17-year-old

No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek lost to a player younger than 18 for the first time on tour when she was stunned by Mirra Andreeva in the Dubai Championships quarterfinals.

The 17-year-old Andreeva won 6-3, 6-3 to become the youngest semifinalist in Dubai's 24-year history.

Swiatek took their only previous match last August in Cincinnati, losing the first set and winning 7-5 in the third. She conceded the first again and was a break up in the second, but Andreeva reeled off the last five games.

"I was nervous before the match," No. 14-ranked Andreeva said. "I told myself I played great in our last match and I just need to keep playing aggressive."

It's her fifth win over a top-10 player and second over a No. 2 — she beat Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open quarterfinals last year.

The Russian teenager will next face sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina, who beat Sofia Kenin 6-2, 7-6 (2) to improve to 3-0 against the American.

Clara Tauson, the Dane who knocked out Sabalenka on Wednesday, defeated Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 6-4 to reach her third semifinals of the year. She will play Karolina Muchova, who eliminated Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 7-5.