Alcaraz eliminates Rublev and Fils to contest the title, Gauff suffers a double defeat by Svitolina, Medvedev extends an olive branch to Qian

Three minutes daily to catch up on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Saturday, February 21, 2026, the fifth day of the first lunar month in the Bingwu year. Welcome to the midday news update brought to you by Tennis Home.

Last night Beijing time, the ATP500 Qatar Doha event wrapped up its singles semifinals, setting the finalists. In a key showdown, top seed Alcaraz withstood a comeback attempt by defending champion Rublev, ultimately winning 7-6(3), 6-4. He extends his winning streak to 11 matches this season, reaching the final here for the first time, marking his 12th ATP 500 final and 34th career tour final overall.

In the other semifinal, French rising star Fils defeated sixth seed and Czech veteran Menšík 6-4, 7-6(4), advancing to his third career ATP 500 final and fifth tour final overall. Alcaraz and Fils have met twice before on clay, with the Spaniard winning both times. This is their first encounter on hard courts. Who do you think will lift the trophy?

At the ATP500 Rio tournament, in the singles quarterfinals, Argentine Echeverry beat Portuguese Faria 7-6, 6-4, earning his 100th ATP tour win and reaching the semifinals where he will face Czech Kopřiva, who eliminated Argentine Cerundolo in straight sets.

At the ATP250 Delray Beach event singles quarterfinals, fourth seed American Lehnert-Chen defeated eighth seed compatriot Tiafoe 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5, leveling their head-to-head at 1-1 and advancing to his third career tour semifinal. In the semis, he will face fellow American Paul, who defeated top seed Fritz 6-4, 6-3.

Hong Kong player Wong Tze-lam lost in three sets to Italian Cobolli, missing out on the semifinals.

On the women's side, in the WTA1000 Dubai singles semifinals, third seed American Gauff battled for over three hours, committing 12 double faults, and eventually lost 4-6, 7-6, 4-6 to Ukrainian rising star Svitolina, suffering a second defeat by her this season after the Australian Open, thus missing the final.

The other final spot was claimed by fourth seed American Pegula, who came back from a set down to beat second seed compatriot Anisimova 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, maintaining a 5-0 winning record against her and reaching this final for the first time. This American-Ukrainian showdown is scheduled for tonight Beijing time. In their head-to-head, Svitolina trails Pegula 3-5.

Let's turn to player news. Early this morning Beijing time, foreign media reported that American rising star Lehnert-Chen will pair with Russian star Medvedev in doubles at next month's Indian Wells Masters. Chen said, "His coach messaged my coach at the last minute, probably the day before the deadline. I said sure, it sounds fun, and I’m looking forward to it." Some fans joked, "Looks like Medvedev is teaming up when he can’t win alone!"

Additionally, the WTA1000 Indian Wells event officially announced wildcards for American legend Serena Williams in both singles and doubles (partnering Fernandez). Some fans questioned, "Serena doesn’t train systematically and just goes through the motions in matches, isn’t giving her wildcards a waste?"

Finally, a guessing game. The picture below shows a player during a match. Without hints, can you identify who it is?

Last time’s guess was correct by some fans. Yes, the person in the picture is the world No.2 in women’s singles, Swiatek.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Independent Thinker)