Dubai dinged by untimely retirements

Injury retirements marred a pair of quarter-finals at the ATP Dubai event on Thursday, with Jiri Lehecka and Sebastien Korda both unable to finish their matches.

The pair of shocks sent Kazakh seventh seed Alexander Bublik and defending champion Andrey Rublev into the final four at the Aviation Club.

Bublik advanced 6-4, 4-1 as Czech Lehecka bowed to fatigue a day after taking almost three hours and saving five match points to upset fourth seed Karen Khachanov.

Second-seed Rublev advanced to his fourth consecutive Dubai semi as opponent Korda had to stop after 70 minutes while trailing 6-4, 4-3 with an apparent side strain issue.

Rublev, who leads Bublik 4-2 in their career series, was stunned when Korda quit their quarter-final after calling for the trainer in the second set.

“I didn’t know he was suffering,” the winner said “it’s tough to finish matches like that, I hope it’s nothing serious.

“It was very windy, we were both suffering and not feeling the ball. It was tough to play between the (afternoon) light and shadow (on court) 

“It was not very clean or good tennis, but sometimes that happens. We were both trying to give our best.”

Rublev said his Friday showdown with Bublik will be tight.

“The surface fits his game, it’s quite fast and all the shots he likes like the drop should work well.

“I’ve shown I can play well here due to my past results;” said the 2022 champion and runner up a year ago to Daniil Medvedev.

Main photo:- Seb Korda was forced to quit in Dubai quarter final.