Medvedev retires, Felix into Doha semi-finals

The Qatar ExxonMobil Open quarter-final between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev came to an abrupt end on Thursday. After Auger-Aliassime hit a forehand winner to clinch the first set, Medvedev walked to chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani and retired from the match.

"Medvedev said in a statement: "Unfortunately I had food poisoning. Very disappointed to end my run here in Doha like this as I feel like I was playing well. I look forward to coming back next year." 

Auger-Aliassime won his first-round match at the ATP 500 against Quentin Halys in a final-set tie-break. Since then, he received a walkover from Hamad Medjedovic and needed to win just one set against Medvedev to advance to the semi-finals.

"It's a weird week so far because normally you win three matches to get to this part," said Auger-Aliassime, who lost just two points on serve against Medvedev according to Infosys ATP Stats. "I got through the first round, different conditions than the past weeks. And then after that, I played a set only when I should have won at least four. I don't know what to say, it's weird."

It is not the first time this has happened. One year ago, Auger-Aliassime was the beneficiary of two mid-match retirements and a walkover en route to the Mutua Madrid Open final.

The No. 23 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will next take on Andrey Rublev, who won a final-set tie-break against Alex de Minaur earlier in the day. Rublev leads Auger-Aliassime 5-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

"It's weird at the same time, because I'm fresh, but in a way [there] is nothing like winning and actually finishing the match and feeling like, 'Okay, I deserved it, I went through'. This time it's a little bit more weird," Auger-Aliassime said. "But look, I have to be professional and keep going and playing, and hopefully go all the way to the final.

"But yeah, Andrey had an unbelievable match today with Alex. That match deserved two winners, so I was enjoying it in the locker room while waiting for this one."

Medvedev rallied for a three-set victory against Karen Khachanov in the first round before defeating Zizou Bergs in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals.