World No. 10 Alex de Minor (Australia) and No. 24 Andrei Rublev (Russia) qualified for the quarterfinals of the strong tennis tournament on hard courts of the ATP 500 series in Beijing. Both had to go through extremely tough three-set battles to seal their ticket to the next phase.
The No. 5 seed in the scheme Alex de Minor prevailed over the 50th in the world Frenchman Quentin Allis with 3:6, 7:6(5), 7:5 in a clash that lasted 2 hours and 49 minutes. The key moment came in the second set, when the Australian was trailing 4-5 points in the tiebreak. Alice failed in both of her subsequent serves, and De Minor took advantage in a flash, leveling the sets before grabbing the third.
This was the fourth match between the two and the second of the season, with the Australian recording his second consecutive victory over this opponent.
In another intriguing match of the second round, Andrei Rublev prevailed over his compatriot Roman Safiulin (No. 84 in the world) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 after just over 2 hours on court. This was the second professional match between the two Russians and the first win for Rublev.
For a place in the top four, Rublev will face Alex de Minor. The upcoming match will be the 10th anniversary between the two and the first for 2026. In the rivalry so far, Rublev leads with 5:4 wins and is in a series of two consecutive successes against the Australian.