It was a mixed bag of results on Thursday as we move into the final three days of the tournaments that have been playing this week.
The WTA Dubai and ATP Doha events are set to be concluded on Saturday, which means it is Semi Final day on Friday, while the ATP Rio tournament has reached the Quarter Final Round.
Any selections from Rio will be added to this thread, but the focus is once again on the tournament in Doha with both WTA Semi Finals quite difficult to call. The odds reflect that with those two matches featuring a couple of pick 'em contests, while there isn't much separating the players in the ATP Doha Semi Finals, but the angles to approach those matches feel more comfortable.
Felix Auger-Aliassime-Andrey Rublev over 23.5 games: The run through to the Semi Final of an ATP 500 event could not have been much more comfortable for Felix Auger-Aliassime and he may still be figuring out the conditions in Doha.
He had to battle through the First Round, but received a walkover in the Second Round before Felix Auger-Aliassime benefited from facing an ill Daniil Medvedev, who had to retire at the end of the first set played.
The Ranking points will be appreciated, but the form is hard to factor even if Felix Auger-Aliassime was serving well before Medvedev called time on the match prematurely in the Quarter Final.
This is going to be another tough challenge for the Canadian when going up against Andrey Rublev, who upset Alex De Minaur in the Quarter Final and who looks to be rounding into some better form. The World Number 10 has been returning with a bit more confidence and authority, although that will be tested by a big Felix Auger-Aliassime serve, and Andrey Rublev has maintained his level behind the serve.
There will be plenty of 'blink and you miss it' kind of rallies in this match with both likely going to get on the front foot behind the first serve with some big groundstrokes to rip past the opponent.
Matches between the pair have largely ended in favour of Andrey Rublev, who has won five of the six previous meetings, but they have been competitive and there is every reason to believe this one will be too.
Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger-Aliassime last met on the hard courts twelve months ago in Rotterdam and it was the former who rallied from a set down to get past the Canadian in the Second Round.
In their previous matches on the hard courts, Felix Auger-Aliassime has held 88% of his service games and Andrey Rublev has managed to do the same in 87% of his own service games. All but one of their previous six matches have gone the distance and you have to feel the two players can put the serving together to help surpass this total games line set in what should be a close, competitive match.
Felix Auger-Aliassime's level in Doha is more difficult to judge this week, but Andrey Rublev has been serving well to see both push through the games and there is every chance that even a straight sets win for either player would still see this total games mark covered.
Jack Draper - 1.5 games v Jiri Lehecka: It was the last match on court and Jack Draper had to battle and dig to recover from a set down and get the better of Matteo Berrettini to move through to the Semi Final.
Spending over two hours on the court is not ideal for the British player, especially considering the issues he has had with injury in his relatively young career. The World Number 16 is only just back on the Tour after being forced to withdraw during his Fourth Round match at the Australian Open against Carlos Alcaraz and there is always a concern when Draper has spent a lot of time on the court.
In saying that, Jack Draper may actually benefit from the time he had to really get through a tough match after coming through the first two Rounds without facing too much pushback.
He has been serving really well this week and Jack Draper has given himself an opportunity to play with a lot of aggression on the return. That was evident in his win over Matteo Berrettini having created 13 Break Points against the big serving Italian and should also bode well for Jack Draper against another solid server.
Jiri Lehecka upset Carlos Alcaraz in the Quarter Final and backing that victory up will be the challenge in front of him.
A strong start has been made to the 2025 season and Jiri Lehecka is going to crack the top 20 in the World Rankings sooner than later- it could happen on Monday if he is able to secure the title here in Doha, but that would mean coming through a couple of tough tests.
Beating someone like Carlos Alcaraz will have given Jiri Lehecka a lot of confidence and he has been able to maintain the very solid returning numbers being produced in 2025. That step up has really helped his tennis and this is another match that is going to be dominated on serve, but with two players who have been returning better than would be expected of them.
It will be close and competitive and it is no surprise that Lehecka and Draper split two hard court meetings in 2024.
At the start of that season, Jiri Lehecka was the higher Ranked player when he beat Jack Draper in the Adelaide Final, but their last meeting was at the Paris Masters in late October and by that time, it was Draper who had moved into the top 20 of the Rankings and he was a routine winner over the Czech player.
Jack Draper actually created more Break Points in both matches and he has held 92% of his service games compared with an 84% mark for Jiri Lehecka.
Both are playing with a lot of confidence right now, but those edges will give Jack Draper the advantage and he can come through with a solid win in this Semi Final and continue his own push towards the top 10 of the World Rankings.
MY PICKS: Felix Auger-Aliassime-Andrey Rublev Over 23.5 Games @ 1.91 Paddy Power (1 Unit)
Jack Draper - 1.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Weekly Update: 6-6, - 0.83 Units (12 Units Staked, - 6.92% Yield)
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