On Thursday, February 20, 2025, top tennis star Carlos Alcaraz was defeated by Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open. Alcaraz, who had been on a seven-match winning streak after his win in Rotterdam earlier this month, couldn’t keep up with Lehecka, who made a stunning comeback.
The match started with Alcaraz losing the first set 6-3, but he fought back to win the second set 3-6. In the third set, Alcaraz even led by a break, but Lehecka, the world number 25, won the final four games to seal the victory 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
“I feel great,” Lehecka said after his win. “To beat a player like Alcaraz is a huge achievement for me. I believed in myself and knew I could play this kind of tennis.”
Lehecka, 23, is now in the semi-finals in Doha for the second time. He’ll face either Britain’s Jack Draper or Italy’s Matteo Berrettini on Friday for a chance to reach the final.
Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev advanced to the semi-finals after a tough match against Australia’s Alex de Minaur. Rublev, the fifth seed, won 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (10/8) in a thrilling match where both players showed amazing skills. Rublev saved a match point and said, “When I lost my serve, I just told myself to give it my best until the end.”
Rublev’s reward for reaching his fourth semi-final in Qatar is a match against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was leading Daniil Medvedev 6-3 when Medvedev had to retire.
