Alex De Minaur fights into Qatar quarters but O'Connell out

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De Minaur fights into Qatar quarters but O'Connell out
Alex de Minaur's fine start to 2025 has continued with a 13th win in 15 tour outings to move into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open.

The Australian No.1 held off the persistent, hard-hitting Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4 6-4 in two hours in front of a spartan crowd in the desert.

It was a flat atmosphere but De Minaur raced across the hardcourt as if backed by a raucous crowd, his trademark energy paying off as he blunted his Dutch opponent's power.

The second seed will now meet fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who will be well-rested after rattling past Nuno Borges 6-3 6-4 in 62 minutes.

Chris O'Connell's match was even shorter. Having come through qualifying the Australian found himself up against world No.16 Jack Draper and was blown away 6-2 6-1 in 59 minutes.

Draper, playing his first event since suffering a hip injury at the Australian Open, broke O'Connell's first service game in each set and never let the Sydneysider back into the match.

De Minaur was briefly threatened himself. At 3-2 down in the first set he had to save three break points. Having done so he pounced in the ninth game to lead 5-4 then served out to take the set in 69 minutes.