Andrey Rublev is the highest seed left in the Qatar Open after a dramatic day that saw fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev quit his quarter-final with food poisoning.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz was beaten by Jiri Lehecka, second seed Alex De Minaur lost at the hands of Rublev, and fourth seed Medvedev exited with illness.

It left Rublev, the fifth seed, and Jack Draper, the eighth seed, as the only seeds left in the semi-finals after a strong last-eight line-up was decimated.

Rublev made hard work of his win, requiring eight match points to defeat De Minaur 6-1 3-6 7-6 (10-8).

That show of resolve will be welcome for the 2020 Doha champion, though, as he had been without a top-10 win since August.

What. A. Match @AndreyRublev97 battles hard past Alex de Minaur in an INCREDIBLE tiebreak 6-1 3-6 7-6(8) ! See you in the semis #QatarExxonMobilOpen pic.twitter.com/YJTY1gbnoy

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 20, 2025

Rublev will now be the favourite in the next round against Felix Auger-Aliassime, the beneficiary of Medvedev's unfortunate departure.

The Canadian took the first set 6-3 before Medvedev signalled he could not continue, explaining his problem in a statement.

Auger-Aliassime also received a walkover in the previous round and said: "I got through the first round, different conditions than the past weeks, and then, after that, I played a set only when I should have won at least four.

"I don't know what to say, it's weird."

Draper headed through to face Lehecka on the other side of the draw, recovering from a set down to beat Matteo Berrettini 4-6 6-4 6-3.