Cilic stuns De Minaur in Dubai as Rublev loses to qualifier

Second seed Alex de Minaur and third seed Andrey Rublev have crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

De Minaur lost to former US Open champion Marin Cilic 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, as the 36-year-old Croatian struck 27 winners en route to his first tour-level win of the 2025 season.

Cilic will face Alexei Popyrin in the second round.

Meanwhile, French qualifier Quentin Halys defeated third seed Andrey Rublev 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 to set up a second round clash with another former champion, Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.

Elsewhere, Nuno Borges eased past eighth seed Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-1, and will next face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who overcame Alexander Bublik 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.

In other matches, defending champion Ugo Humbert dropped just three games in a ruthless 6-3, 6-0 opening win over Jiri Lehecka, while Luca Nardi battled past Marton Fucsovics 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 to secure his spot in the Round of 16.

BIG win alert 🚨

The moment @cilic_marin knocks out No. 2 seed de Minaur with a stunning performance 6-2 3-6 6-3 @DDFTennis | #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/0xyDvHlyiZ

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 25, 2025