Doha, 24 Feb 2023

Czeck Tennis Star Jiri Lehecka To Face British Star Andy Murray; and Daniil Medvedev, Russian star will be facing Auger-Aliassime In Semi Final Today in Doha.

Lehecka in a surprise win of his career on Thursday defeated World's No 5 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia to reach the semi-finals of the $1.5mn Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

Lehecka, 21, scored 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Rublev, and recorded his first win from a top player. He will face on Friday, today in Semi final British former champion Andy Murray, 2008 and 2009 Champion Qatar ExxonMobil. 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win in 2 hours and 3 minutes. Murray, now 23-4 in Doha, fired 9 aces in the thrilling centre court clash.

In another fascinating and thrilling game on Thursday, British star Andy Murray defeated French Alexandre Muller in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win in a 2 hours and 3 minutes game.

In another quarter-final, Russian Daniil Medvedev, World No 3 defeated Christopher O’Connell, Australian to reach the semi-finals in his first ever appearance in Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Medvedev won 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in 1 hours and 58 minutes.

Lehecka said he has improved the mental side of his game to come through a tough week in Qatar.  He has improved everything, but mostly his mentality. 'On the court I gained some confidence at the Next Gen finals and then I just learned how to use it and. I just feel great on this court with these balls. It’s an incredible atmosphere over here. I am really looking forward to another match. I am very happy that I had a chance to play here,” he added.

Murray 35, three-time Grand Slam champion praised Muller for his performance in Doha. 'He had an excellent tournament coming through qualifying. He’s had some good wins over the years. I saw last year he beat (Richard) Gasquet and he beat Tsonga too. I knew it was going to be a tough match. He plays very well, hopefully with more experience, you know, playing at this level, he’ll be back here more often in the future, but he plays very well,” Murray said.

Murray replying a question in press conference post match, said that his first ATP Tour 18 years before was in Bangkok. Where he played until quarterfinal level and he lost to  Roger Federer in the final.

Murray said he is expecting a dogfight in the semi-final today against Lehecka.