


It was a cagey final set and Davidovich Fokina must have feared going into another tiebreak after what had come before. It was now the Spaniard's turn to respond to a setback and it was all getting a little hot in the Dubai heat as he was forced to fight off his first break points of the match in game four. Novak could face Rafael Nadal or Carlos Alcaraz in a mouth-watering semi-final.But to beat the top players you need to take the opportunities presented to you and, remarkably, back came Rublev, reeling off the next seven points to take it 8-6 and level up the match, accompanied by a massive roar of delight by the Russian. Novak made a winning start against Gael Monfils, toppling the Frenchman 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 27 minutes and scoring the 18th victory over Gael from as many matches!ĭjokovic was pleased with his performance in the first clash after losing the Belgrade final to Andrey Rublev, hoping for more in the upcoming encounters. Shapovalov played well in the second set but could not keep that pace in the other two, getting broken four times and propelling Murray into the last 16.Īfter a day off, Novak will face Dusan Lajovic or Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-final on Friday, playing only one match in Madrid so far and doing enough to keep the ATP throne ahead of his opponents. Murray defended two out of three break chances and kept the pressure on the other side. Andy scored a notable 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Denis Shapovalov in the second round to set Novak Djokovic clash. With a boost on his side, the Briton secured an early break in the second set and sealed the deal with a service winner in game ten. Andy grabbed a break in the opener's sixth game for a 4-2 lead and took four straight points in game nine for 6-3 in 47 minutes. Recovering from an injury, Thiem could not follow that pace, getting broken once in each set to propel Murray into the next round. Andy Murray withdrew ahead of Novak Djokovic clash.
