DOHA, February 20. /TASS/. Russia’s top racquet Daniil Medvedev was forced to retire from the quarterfinals at the 2025 Qatar Open on Thursday.
Playing against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 5th-seeded Medvedev lost the opening set 3-6, then told the umpire he couldn't continue and walked away.
The official website of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) later quoted Medvedev as saying: "Unfortunately I had food poisoning."
"Very disappointed to end my run here in Doha like this as I feel like I was playing well. I look forward to coming back next year," the Russian tennis star added.
Auger-Aliassime started the tournament with a tough opening round win against Frenchman Quentin Halys which saw the two go to a final-set tie-break. In the next round, he cruised to an easy victory over Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic and today, needed only one set to upend Russia’s Medvedev.
"It's a weird week so far because normally you win three matches to get to this part," the tournament’s official website quoted Auger-Aliassime after the abrupt match with Medvedev. 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."
Auger-Aliassime, 24, will now play in the semifinals against another Russian player, Andrey Rublev, who earlier in the day defeated 2nd-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur 6-1; 3-6; 7-6 (10-8).
Medvedev, 29, is currently sixth in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Rankings. In 2022, the top Russian racquet spent sixteen weeks as the number one player in the world. He is the 2021 US Open Champion and has 20 ATP tournament titles under his belt. He won five of these 20 titles in 2023. Also, in 2021, he won the Davis Cup as well as the ATP Cup playing for the Russian national team.
The 2025 Qatar Open Tennis tournament is a WTA-ranked 500 competition on the organization’s calendar and it takes place at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash complex in Doha, Qatar, between February 17 and 22. The tournament is played on outdoor hard courts. Russia’s Karen Khachanov is the reigning champion.
Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC's recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.
On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
However, the Women Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.