Alexei Popyrin has powered into his first ATP semi-final of the season at the Qatar Open with a surprisingly crisp and straightforward defeat of the unpredictable Alexander Bublik in Doha.
The Sydneysider raced to a 6-4 6-4 victory at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, a terrific win against the fourth seed Bublik, the world No.21 who's ranked 25 places higher than the Aussie on the ATP computer.
It's set up Popyrin's first semi-final appearance since Umag, Croatia last July, a tournament he went on to win.