Reigning champ Humbert crashes out, while French compatriot Mpetshi Perricard beaten by Medvedev

Top seed Daniil Medvedev tames big-hitting young Frenchman to line up quarterfinal tie with Holland’s Tallon Griekspoor, who upset last year’s winner in three sets earlier in the day

Auger-Aliassime beats Portugal’s Borges for Tour-best 14th win of the season, while Lucky Loser Luca Nardi continues surprise run to Elite Eight and will face French qualifier Quentin Halys next

Dubai, UAE – February 26, 2025: Reigning champion Ugo Humbert crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday night after a two-hour tussle with Tallon Griekspoor that ended with the unseeded Dutchman progressing 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

World No15 Humbert, who beat two former World No1s in Andy Murray and Daniil Medvedev en route to last year’s title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, started his championship defence as strongly as expected against a player ranked 32 places below him in the PIF ATP World Rankings. The Frenchman forced Griekspoor to save two breakpoints in the third game but converted in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead, before closing out the set to serve.

Griekspoor won the Doubles tournament in Dubai last year alongside Jan-Lennard Struff, but had never progressed past the Round of 16 before here in singles. Facing another three breakpoints midway through the second set, this time the 28-year-old defended all three before crucially breaking his opponent’s service game for 4-2 in the sixth with a determined display from the baseline.

In the third set, having found his range, Griekspoor broke Humbert again in the opening game to take the outright lead and repeated the feat for 4-1 after his opponent’s defence finally failed when facing his third breakpoint of the game. Serving for the match, the Dutchman struck three aces to book a place in his second quarterfinal of the season.

Watch: Tallon Griekspoor | Post-Match Interview | R2 | 2025 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

“He’s an unbelievable player and hits the ball so, so hard,” Griekspoor said of Humbert. “Whenever he is on it there is not much you can do – I thought he played unbelievable in the first set. Somehow, I managed to break his rhythm a little bit and served really well towards the end of the match, so I’m very happy with the win.”

The pair had only met once before, in front of a partisan crowd in Montpellier in 2021. On that occasion, while Griekspoor came close, he ultimately fell short. This felt then, he said, like some long-awaited vengeance. “Yeah, the last time we played it was three tiebreaks. I was serving for the match and had a couple of match points, so that one hurt,” he said. “I’m happy to get my revenge a few years later.”

The matches will not get any easier for the World No47 with the draw pitting him against top-seed Medvedev in the last-eight. Champion here in 2023, a cool Medvedev eased past big-hitting young Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard 6-4, 6-4 under the lights on Wednesday in what was their first meeting. For all the talk of the 21-year-old’s huge serve, he managed only three aces against an agile Medvedev, who struck six aces himself and was moving well again following a bout of food poisoning last week in Doha.

“Honestly, [I] much better than yesterday,” said Medvedev, when asked how he was feeling after coming through a potentially tricky second round unscathed. “I felt like my shots were really good. The plan was to be very solid on my serve and I managed to do it. As soon as there was a rally from baseline, where he was not at the net or with an easy shot, I had to try to win as many points as possible and I think I won, like, 95% of them. So [I’m] really happy with my level and looking forward.”

On a first meeting with Griekspoor, Medvedev added: “Yeah, it’s crazy because we’ve both been on Tour for, at least, four years. We actually practice [together] quite a lot. Also, I see him a lot on TV – he probably sees myself on TV too, so we know what to expect. I was very impressed by his level today; he was really going up during the match and it was a great result to beat a defending champion because Ugo [Humbert] was in great form. He’ll be a tough opponent, so I hope I can show my best tennis.”

Earlier in the day, Felix Auger-Aliassime edged out Portugal’s Nuno Borges 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to reach his fourth quarterfinal in the past six tournaments – two of which he has gone on to turn into title wins this season. The Canadian was forced to fight for his place in the Elite Eight as Borges, ranked No38 in the world, produced another resolute performance to push it to three sets.

Auger-Aliassime rallied well after falling one-set down to break three times and take the second, then striking late in the third to secure the victory. It took him ahead of the pack with a Tour-best 14th win of the season. He will face veteran Marin Cilic in the first quarterfinal of the day on Centre Court. Cilic, 36, produced a vintage display to edge past Alexei Popyrin 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to progress to the last eight.

“I’ve been facing various tight situations in the past few weeks and months,” the World No21 said. “It helps to keep your cool and keep trusting yourself – even if my opponent was playing great and causing me a lot of trouble. I thought in the first and third sets, his level was really high, so, yeah, it helped that I had a few wins behind me leading up to today.”

On being the ATP frontrunner with no other men’s player having won as many matches this season, Auger-Aliassime replied: “I mean, you are rarely in that position, so I’m happy I have had such a start to this year. Maybe I would have traded some of those wins for a deeper run at the Australian Open, but I am happy – my time will come.”

In the late match on Centre Court, Stefanos Tsitsipas fought for close to two and a half hours before finally securing his way past Karen Khachanov 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4. This victory, which finished with a furious and frustrated Khachanov smashing his racquet, means Greek star Tsitsipas will face 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, who beat Christopher O’Connell 7-6, 6-2, to reach the last eight.

“Thank you to everyone for staying out so late,” Tsitsipas said on-court after an intense two and a half battle. “It feels so late, but at least there was still an atmosphere. It felt good to have people cheering us on. I tried my best to fight; it was amazing. I can’t describe anything just now; I’m exhausted.”

Meanwhile on Court 1, World No79 Luca Nardi continues his unexpected week. The Italian lost to Marton Fucsovics during qualifying, only to be handed a second chance as Lucky Loser following the late withdrawal of British No1 Jack Draper. In a twist of fate, he was drawn against Fucsovics again in the first round, this time overcoming the Hungarian in three sets, and on Wednesday he booked his place in the last eight with a win against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs. He will face another qualifier in Quentin Halys, who followed up his own surprise win over No3 seed Andrey Rublev by claiming one more major scalp in the form of 2018 Dubai winner Roberto Bautista Agut.

The 33rd staging of the ATP Tour 500 tournament at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships takes place from February 24 to March 1, is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free, and held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.