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Patna : Qualifier Jiri Vesely, 28, Czech Republic, who had stunned World No 1 & top seed Novak Djokovic, 34, Serbia, in quartter-final on February 24, upset 6th seed Denis Shapovalov, 22, Canada, in a three-set thriller in semi-final of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships at Dubai, UAE, on February 25, 2022, late night, rallying back from one set down, to set up a final against 2nd seed Andrey Rublev, 24, Russia.
World No 123 Jiri Vesely beat World No 14 Shapovalov 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 in semi-final in 3hr 12 minutes. Vesely hammered 19 Aces during the match to 7 by the Canadian. The Czech won 2 tie-breaks while Shapovalov won 1. The Canadian committed 14 double faults during the match to 7 by the Czech.
Both the players won 2 break points each and 3 games in a row during the match. Vesely, in all, won 124 points during the match to 115 points by the Canadian. Vesely had upset 8th seed Roberto Bautista Agut, 33, Spain, in 2nd round and 2014 US Open Champion Marin Cilic, Croatia, in 1st round.
World No 7 Andrey Rublev beat 5th seed Hubert Hurkacz, 25, Poland, in a close three-set semi-final 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 in 2hr 23 minutes on February 25, 2022, coming back from behind. Hurkacz though hammered 27 Aces during the match to 9 by the Russian. Both the players won 1 break points each and 3 games in a row each during the match. The Pole won 99 points in the match to 96 by the Russian.