WATCH: Andrey Rublev's reaction to losing his lead against Alex de Minaur in Doha

After overcoming Alex de Minaur to earn his first Top 10 in six months, Andrey Rublev fought his way into the semifinals at the Qatar ExxonMobil on Thursday in Doha, scoring his greatest victory of the year. Rublev had a significant mental test throughout the two-hour, forty-two-minute round in addition to a difficult physical one.

The Russian finally defeated Alex De Minaur in a third-set tiebreak, using eight match points to do it. Throughout the match, Rublev maintained his composure by using several mental strategies. Rublev, who closed his eyes and took deep breaths to control his emotions during the changeovers in Doha, appears to be benefiting from it all.

In the meantime, he laughed for a second after losing the 5-2 lead and letting match points slip away before hitting the mental reset button. Rublev advanced to his fourth Doha semifinal after tying De Minaur at 4-4 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Felix Auger-Aliassime, who advanced when Daniil Medvedev was forced to quit his quarterfinal match due to food poisoning, will next take on the No. 10 seed in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Watch the video here:

Andrey Rublev’s reaction after blowing a 5-2 lead and missing out on match points against Alex de Minaur in Doha

Laughing & meditating 😂

pic.twitter.com/vLm6B16zs0

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 20, 2025

Andrey Rublev dominated the match

Rublev dominated from the baseline and took advantage of the 46 percent (12/26) of first serves that the Australian landed with his aggressive return position after De Minaur's noticeably better serve failed him in the first set. After he came back from a 2-5 deficit to force a deciding-set tie-break, the 26-year-old appeared to have found his form at the perfect moment.

Rublev would have lost control after wasting seven match points at 5-3 in the final set and 8/7 in the tie-break, including two on his serve. Eventually, the previous champion's triumph came from maintaining his composure and applying pressure from the baseline. Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime or his countryman Daniil Medvedev are his potential candidates.