Qualify For Qatar Open Final After Defeating Khachanov, Bautista Agut: I Have To Fight Really Hard To Turn Things Around

JAKARTA - Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut looks to the Qatar Open finals for the second time in a row. He will face defending champion Nikoloz Basilashivili on Saturday after both players have passed their respective semifinals.

Second seed Bautista Agut, champion in Doha in 2019, needed almost two and a half hours to beat Russia's Karen Khachanov, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

"I want to give a lot of credit to Karen, she played amazing," said world number 16 Bautista Agut, who lost just three games in his opening wins over Andy Murray and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

"I had to fight really hard to turn things around. It was a very difficult match."

While third seed Basilashvili of Georgia earlier won an easy 6-4, 6-2 victory over 61st-ranked Arthur Rinderknech of France.

"I feel great," said Basilashvili, who beat Roger Federer to the title in 2021.

"I really like playing in Doha. I see the ball really well here." as reported by AFP.