All of the top four seeds are out of the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open as we head into semifinal Friday. Carlos Alcaraz, Alex de Minaur, and Daniil Medvedev all lost on Thursday. That leaves Andrey Rublev, Jack Draper, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Jiri Lehecka to battle it out for the title.
Here are my previews and picks for the semifinals in Doha.
Jiri Lehecka vs. (8) Jack Draper
Lehecka was already in stellar form this year, but things got even better when he beat Alcaraz 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. The 25th-ranked Czech began his week with victories over Grigor Dimitrov and Fabian Marozsan; his record now stands at 13-2 for the season.
Draper awaits Lehecka for what will be their third matchup, having split the first two meetings–both in 2024. Lehecka prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the Adelaide title match before Draper scored a 7-5, 6-2 win on the indoor hard courts of the Paris Masters Paris. Draper is also on fire, boasting a 6-1 record in 2025 with a loss only to Alcaraz at Melbourne Park. The 16th-ranked Brit secured his spot in the Doha semis by knocking off Alexei Popyrin, Christopher O’Connell, and Matteo Berrettini. I’m giving a slight edge to Draper in what should be a high-quality contest.
Pick: Draper in 3
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. (5) Andrey Rublev
On Friday, Rublev and Auger-Aliassime will be facing each other for the seventh time. Rublev leads the H2H 5-1 after getting the job done twice last year–7-5 in the third set on both occasions (Rotterdam and Madrid). The 10th-ranked Russian had been struggling prior to this week, but suddenly he has looked great in victories at the expense of Alexander Bublik, Nuno Borges, and De Minaur.
Auger-Aliassime needed a third-set tiebreaker to get past Quentin Halys before getting some help–a walkover from Hamad Medjedovic and a retirement from Medvedev following a 6-3 opening set in the Canadian’s favor on Thursday. There is unlikely to be such luck with an inspired Rublev on the other side of the net in the semifinals.
Pick: Rublev in 3
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.