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 🚨
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 25, 2025
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
Alcaraz sinks Lehecka to retain Japan Open crown
McIlroy set for Dubai return at DP World Tour Championship in November
Kaur steps down as India women's team captain
Gauff hits out at racist abuse after replayed point in Beijing sparks backlash
France come from behind to thrash Belgium
