Alex de Minaur has continued his stunning run of consistency that extends back eight months into June of 2024, after winning through to the quarter-finals at the Qatar Open. And Aryna Sabalenka was at the centre of shock scenes after the women’s World No.1 was bundled out in straight sets of the Dubai Championships by unheralded Dane, Clara Tauson.

De Minaur has risen to World No.6 off the back of some superb form, which included reaching the last-eight at the Australian Open and finishing runner-up at the Rotterdam Open earlier this month. And the Aussie’s impressive start to the new year got even better in Qatar as he held off a dogged challenge from Botic van de Zandschulp to defeat the hard-hitting Diutchman 6-4 6-4 in two hours.

The atmosphere was flat inside the sparsely-packed stadium but de Minaur brought the energy with a typically busy display that showed off his court coverage and speed. The 26-year-old’s swift feet blunted the giant Dutchman’s power game and the victory saw de Minaur extend his run of not losing before the quarter-finals of an ATP tournament since June of last year.

The straight-sets victory was de Minaur’s 13th win in 15 tour outings and sets up a last-eight showdown against fifth seed Andrey Rublev. The Russian will go into the quarter-final clash with the Aussie second seed feeling fairly well rested after easing past Nuno Borges 6-3 6-4 in 62 minutes.

The news wasn’t quite as good for de Minaur’s compatriot Chris O’Connell, who lost in less time than Borges. The Aussie was blown away by World No.16 Jack Draper in 59 minutes after a 6-2 6-1 drubbing. Draper is playing in his first event since suffering a hip injury at the Australian Open and after breaking the Aussie’s first service game in each set, he was untroubled.

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Top seed Carlos Alcaraz moved into the last-eight by defeating Italy’s Luca Nardi 6-1 4-6 6-4. The Spaniard will now face Jiri Lehecka in the quarters after the Czech beat Fabian Marozsan 6-4 6-2. While Daniil Medvedev overcame Zizou Bergs 6-2, 6-1 and will face Félix Auger-Aliassime, who advanced to the last-eight without having to play Hamad Mededovic, after the Serb injured himself in the victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Aryna Sabalanka suffers shock straight-sets defeat

The biggest surprise of the day though saw Australian Open runner-up Sabalenka sent packing by 22-year-old Danish star Clauson, who stunned the World No.1 in a 6-3 6-2 rout at the Dubai Championships. The 38th ranked Clauson – who lost to Sabalenka at Melbourne Park in January – said she didn’t get much sleep before the match but still managed to score her first ever victory against a No.1-ranked opponent.

“I think I slept maybe five hours last night. We went to sleep at 330 am,” Clauson said in her on-court interview. “I didn’t know what shape I was going to come out here in, but a pretty good one.” Tauson will now face Linda Noskova in the Dubai quarter-finals after the Czech stunned American fifth seed Jessica Pegula 6-3 7-6(8).

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini was the third seeded player to fall after the World No.4 lost 6-4 6-0 to 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. Wildcard Kenin next faces former Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina, who staved off six match points against Paula Badosa, before beating the Spaniard 4-7 7-6(8) 7-6(2) in a stunning comeback victory.

with agencies