Alexei Popyrin's bid to reach his first ATP final of the year has been sunk by Russian Karen Khachanov, who went on to knock out the Australian in the Qatar Open semis after prevailing in a dramatic 26-point first-set tiebreak.
Popyrin, competing in his first semi-final since winning his second career title in Croatia last July, looked in the driving seat for much of the opening set at Doha's Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex but eventually succumbed in the breaker before going down 7-6 (14-12) 6-2.
