THREE of the four top ranked players all fell at the semi-finals stage of the 2025 Qatar Open ATP500 event, with the biggest of those results being talented Czech Jiri Lehecka toppling world number three, Carlos Alcaraz.

After the Spaniard received a scare up against Luca Nardi in the Round of 16 the match before, his fears became reality when Lehecka stuck to the task at hand to grind out a hard-fought 6-3 3-6 6-4 victory in two hours and 10 minutes.

It was far from convincing given Alcaraz actually had the higher dominance ratio (1.14 to 0.87) as well as serving at a higher clip (71 to 63 per cent) and winning more first and second serve points than his opponent. However a fourth break of serve in favour of Lehecka sealed the result in the third set to bring home the most unlikely of victories.

Alcaraz can perhaps consider himself a little unlucky, hitting 10 more winners (32-22) and 15 less unforced errors (29-44), as well as winning four more total points (88-84). However when the whips were cracking in the third set, Lehecka lifted his level to win 76 per cent of his first serve points and broke twice compared to once.

Incredibly, Alcaraz had a break point at 4-2 up in the third set to set up a chance to serve for the match, Instead, Lehecka swatted that away, and went on to win the last four games of the set – dropping just four points in the last three games and 16 of the next 21 points from that break point moment to close out the match.

“I feel great,” Lehecka said post-match. “The match was up and down since the beginning. So for me to win a match like that against a player like this is a super big achievement. I believed in myself and knew I had the level to produce this kind of tennis. I knew if I could be a bit more consistent in matches, I can bring these results more and more.

“I think the most important part was I believed in my game and did not back down. Even when I was missing shots in the third set, I wanted to play my game style, be an aggressive player and push him to his limits. I was just waiting for the right moment to put all these things together and it happened when I broke him back in the third set.”

Lehecka has shown some promising form this year, having won his second ATP Tour title in Brisbane last month, and will now face off against British eighth seed Jack Draper for a spot in the Doha final. Draper ended the run of Italian Matteo Berrettini with a come-from-behind three-set victory, 4-6 6-4 6-3.

Meanwhile in the other two matches, Andrey Rublev won with his eighth match point against Australian Alex de Minaur 6-1 3-6 7-6 at 10-8 in the third set tiebreaker, while Felix Auger-Aliassime received a spot into the semis via his second straight retirement – this time being fourth seed Daniil Medvedev with illness. – when up 6-3.

2025 QATAR OPEN ATP500 – QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

Jiri Lehecka (CZE) defeated [1] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 6-3 3-6 6-4
[5] Andrey Rublev (RUS) defeated [2] Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-1 3-6 7-6
Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) defeated [4] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 6-3 RET
[8] Jack Draper (GBR) defeated Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 4-6 6-4 6-3