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Day 2 of the Dubai Tennis Championships saw eight singles matches take place, with a few of them producing some interesting results. Top seed Daniil Medvedev booked his place in the Round of 16 of the ATP 500 event with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Jan-Lennard Struff.
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Ugo Humbert both booked their spots in the second in contrasting fashion. While the Canadian had to grind out a 7-6(7), 6-7(4), 6-3 win over Alexander Bublik, Humbert made easy work of Jiri Lehecka, triumphing 6-3, 6-0.
However, there quite a few fixtures when unheralded players got the better of opponents who were considerably higher-ranked. On that note, let’s take a look at the three most shocking results from Day 2 of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
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#1 Andrey Rublev's Early Exit to Qualifier Quentin Halys
Andrey Rublev entered Dubai as one of the favorites to win after winning the Qatar Open the previous week. The Russian was the third seed and faced Quentin Halys in the opening round.
Rublev started the match well and won the opening set after a solitary break of serve in the eighth game. Both players exchanged breaks during the first five games of the second set and the Russian even had a break point but squandered it. Halys then broke in the final game to force the match into a decider.
Rublev had several opportunities to break during the final set but squandered six points and a tiebreak eventually. Halys eventually took it to register a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) victory and book his place in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he will face Roberto Bautista Agut.
#2. Arthur Fils Falls to Nuno Borges in Straight Sets
Given Nuno Borges' promising start to 2025, beating seventh seed Arthur Fils should not be a surprise but the manner in which he won, was one. Fils can be a menace for even the best players in the world on his day but February 25, 2025 was far from it, as he was totally outplayed by the Portuguese.
Borges broke the Frenchman twice in the first three games of the match and this was enough to see him take the first set 6-2. He dominated the second set and won 27 out of 41 points to clinch a 6-2, 6-1 win and a place in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Here, Borges will be up against Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the quarterfinals.
#3 Alex de Minaur Stunned by Marin Cilic
Alex de Minaur had a good start to 2025 and was arguably the heaviest favorite to win the Dubai Tennis Championships given his current run of form. However, the second-seeded Aussie was on the receiving end of what was a clock turning performance from Marin Cilic.
The Croat got off to a terrific start, cruising to a 3-0 lead in the opening set, which he went on to win 6-2. However, De Minaur bounced back and took the second set to force the match to a decider. Cilic saved a break point in the opening game of the final set before producing a decisive break in thr sixth game. The 2014 US Open champion eventually registered a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win to book his place in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
