By Richard Pagliaro Thursday, February 26, 2026
Image source: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The crackling sound of brokenness drives away the front feet Andrei Rublev Strengths.
Nowadays, Rublev often shows his intelligence throughout the game and has set a milestone in Dubai.
Rublev was repulsed Arthur Lindeknech He reached the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for the fifth time in his career 6-2, 6-4.
Fifth seed Rublev joins eight-time champion Roger Federer (11 times) and Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic (10 times) as just the third man in history to reach the Dubai semifinals five times or more.
This was the 48th tour-level semifinal for Rublev in his career, and he produced one of his best performances of the season in the process. Rublev won 11 of his first 14 games, hitting 19 winners and making 11 unforced errors.
Rublev converted four of his seven break opportunities, including two spectacular backhand volleys. The notoriously net-averse Russian hit some great stretch volleys at the net, going a perfect five-for-five.
It all culminated in a 74-minute victory, Rublev’s fourth over Lindeknych in as many games.
“Of course, against a player like Arthur, coming back is key,” Rublev said. “I think it was both of those things. In the games where I was able to break him, I was returning the serve pretty well. And, he was probably hitting two or three first serves and two to three seconds, so I had some opportunities to step in on the second serve. I was able to return the serve pretty well and take advantage of those opportunities.
“Because sometimes when they do it all on one serve, it’s harder to break. So I had a little chance and he gave it to me and I was able to take advantage of it the right way.”
2022 Dubai champion Rublev to face Miami Open winner Jakub Mencik, The guy who beat Jannik Sinner in Doha last week, or World Ranking 25 Talon Grixpool Compete for a spot in the finals.
Although Rublev is an offensive powerhouse, he used determined defense to achieve the first breakthrough. After catching Lindeknech’s spike, Rublev flashed a running forehand pass, hit the baseline, and scored, making the score 3-2.
“His serve was wide and I returned the ball really well,” Rublev said. “I thought he was definitely going to make a mistake or give me an easy pass. But in the end, he hit this high ball on a forehand volley, really deep, close to the baseline. So there was no real space.
“I was like, OK, I’m going to hit a lucky lob and maybe some fairy tale thing will happen because I don’t have room. Maybe I can hit it really hard on the baseline, but I feel like he’s going to block it. So I thought, OK, if he’s too close, then maybe the lob will work. I started to see him catching it easily and I didn’t think it was possible. I was lucky he couldn’t hit it super hard.
“I covered that side well and hit a lucky forehand cross-court shot at the free throw line. As far as I’m concerned, there aren’t a lot of highlights on defense. Usually all my highlights come on offense, so I started to get highlights from defense.”
The red-haired Russian broke serve at 15 minutes and the score was 4-2.
In the service game, Rublev saved the set point with a curved diagonal forehand.
On his first set point, Rublev hit an ace in 29 minutes to seal a wonderful first set. Rublev scored 12 of 16 points on his first serve in the first set and made only three unforced errors.
Lindeknech looked tired at the net as he tried to restart the second set after defeating Indian Wells champion Jack Draper 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4 on Wednesday night.
Rublev read the Frenchman’s serve and hit a forehand return winner from the baseline for a 2-1 lead. An exquisite backhand volley helped Rublev break serve for the second time in a row, leading 4-1 and winning five consecutive games to lead 5-1.
When Rublev missed a forehand, Lindekneich saved match point and eventually tied the score to 4-5.
Lindeknech saved the second match point with a forehand net-rope winner. Rublev hit an ace to gain match point again, and the game ended in the 74th minute due to a French error.
Tomorrow’s semifinals Top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on third seed Daniil Medvedev.
U.S. Open semifinalist Auger-Aliassime hit 16 aces on two double faults and saved two break points to defeat Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-6(2).
World No. 8 Auger-Aliassime improved his record to 11-1 in February, reaching his 42nd ATP semifinals and now has a win in his second straight Dubai final.
Former world no.1 Daniil Medvedev Today’s quarterfinal opener defeated the United States 6-2, 6-1. Jason Brooksby.
Medvedev broke serve five times and faced no break point in the 56-minute sweep.
“I’m very happy with my level and I think I’m playing better and better every game,” Medvedev said.
“A lot of the times I hit shots I thought they were going to go in, I thought he might have a problem with his shoulder, but he’s a great fighter, so I knew it was still going to be tough.
“I feel good going into the season, I worked hard in the offseason and I think we’re seeing the results now.”
This is the third time 2023 champion Medvedev has participated in the Dubai semifinals, and he will participate in the tour-level semifinals for the 64th time.
