Rublev and Menchik qualified for the Dubai Tennis Championship… and the second seed was eliminated from the round of 16

The round of 16 competitions of the 34th edition of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship for men in the 500 points category, which was held on Wednesday, witnessed strong matches and remarkable results, with the decisive rounds approaching.

Russian Andrey Rublev, seeded fifth, achieved a difficult victory over Frenchman Hugo Hombre in three sets, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, in a match that lasted more than two hours and 23 minutes, to reserve his place in the quarter-finals after a competitive confrontation.

Czech Jakub Menchik, seeded sixth, qualified after defeating Australian Alexei Popyrin in two unanswered sets, 6-3, 6-2, in a match that lasted an hour and four minutes, confirming his strong presence in the tournament.

The same round witnessed one of its most prominent surprises with the exit of Kazakh Alexander Bublik, ranked second in the tournament and tenth in the world and runner-up in the 2025 edition, after losing to Dutchman Talon Grikspor in two sets 6-3 and 7-6, leaving the competition early.

Russian Daniil Medvedev reached the quarter-finals after ending Swiss Stan Wawrinka’s campaign by defeating him 6-2, 6-3. Medvedev, who won the Dubai title in 2023, imposed his advantage from the beginning, as he broke his opponent’s serve three times in the first set, before continuing his superiority in the second, taking advantage of the strength of his serve, achieving seven aces, to decide the match in two consecutive sets.

After the match, the main court at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium witnessed honoring of Wawrinka, who announced his retirement at the end of the season, in appreciation of his career spanning nearly two decades in the tournament, where he previously won the title in 2016.

Medvedev set up a match in the quarter-finals with American Jenson Brooksby, who defeated Russian Karen Khachanov, seeded seventh, with a score of 7-6, 6-4, continuing his journey as the only American remaining in the main table.

In other matches, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, runner-up in last year’s edition, continued his brilliance after overturning an early deficit against Frenchman Giovanni Mbachi Pericar to win 6-4, 6-4, setting up a quarter-final match with Czech Jiri Lehiczka, seeded eighth, who beat Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta with a score of 7-6, 6-4.