'Never happened before': Tennis world goes berserk over bizarre Rublev streak
The tennis world has erupted after tennis star Andrey Rublev walked into the semi-final of the Qatar Open without playing a match after an unprecedented run.
The World No.8, who has been in hot form to start the 2021 season, recently won the Rotterdam Open and was one of the favourites heading into the tournament in Doha.
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He was seeded No.3, behind Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem, received a bye in his first round.
But the 23-year-old second round opponent, Frenchman Richard Gasquet, pulled out with a leg injury.
Rublev's quarter-final opponent Martin Fucsovics, who lost to the Russian in the Rotterdam Open final, pulled out due to a back problem following his two wins.
The Russian's bizarre run to the semi-final, without playing a point, is the first time in ATP Tour history (since 1990) that a player received back-to-back walkovers at a tournament.
Rublev is set to play Roberto Bautista Agut after he defeated top seed Thiem.
Many fans joked Rublev was going to win the tournament threw walkovers.
Taylor Fritz played 88 games en route to reaching the Doha semifinals.
Andrey Rublev played 0 games en route to reaching the Doha semifinals.
Both have secured 90 ranking points for their efforts.— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) March 11, 2021
Rublev in Doha this week:
1R: Bye
2R: Walkover (Gasquet withdrew)
QF: Walkover (Fucsovics withdrew)
Someone’s looking out for you this week, @AndreyRublev97 😉 pic.twitter.com/xSI1WcpNhJ— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 11, 2021
Andrey Rublev in Doha
R1: bye
R2: walkover
QF: walkover
At least he played some doubles.— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 11, 2021
Lower ranked players at the sight of Rublev: pic.twitter.com/g0ewdWaSvL
— Oleg S. (@AnnaK_4ever) March 11, 2021
Minutes spent on court to reach the @QatarTennis semi-finals ⏰
Fritz: 398
Bautista Agut: 339
Basilashvili: 298
Rublev: 0— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 11, 2021
Are you suggesting a change to how tournaments deal with mid-tournament withdrawals/walkovers? Or are you just pointing out a curious oddity?
— Noah P-S (@connectinglines) March 11, 2021
A solution to something that never happened before?
— Coach Cala (@SebastianCala) March 11, 2021
And Rublev is yet to play a match. Epic. 🤣
— Usman R. (@TheUsmanR) March 11, 2021
Rublev picked up 90 ranking points for the pass to the semi-final.
To put this in comparison, American Taylor Fritz played 88 games to earn his points.
Rublev also made history back in 2017 when he won his first career title at the Croatia Open and became only the seventh 'lucky loser' to win an ATP title.
A 'lucky loser' is a player who fails to qualify for a tournament, but then gains entry after another player withdraws from the competition.
Roger Federer's loss at Qatar Open
The big talking point of the day was when Roger Federer, on his comeback, held a one-set lead and match point only to lose to Nikoloz Basilashvili on Thursday.
In the second match of his comeback event after 14 months away from tennis, Federer secured the first set but eventually wilted and lost the quarter-final clash 6-3, 1-6, 5-7.
On Wednesday, the 39-year-old marked his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals in January 2020 by defeating Britain's Dan Evans, also in three sets.
On Thursday, Federer had a match point in the third set before his Georgian opponent fought back to end the 20-time grand slam champion's tournament.
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