Alexander Bublik has revealed that doctors told him not to play his semifinal at the Almaty ATP 250, after he injured his right knee at the end of his quarterfinal win over Karen Khachanov. The No. 3 seed went on court against Daniil Medvedev on Saturday anyway, with his knee taped, and retired after losing the first set 6-3.

Bublik said the injury happened at 5-4 in the third-set tiebreak against Khachanov on Friday evening, a match he went on to win 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).

“It’s tennis, it’s sport. You play your best, then you get injured in the last point of a match,” Bublik said. “You win one of the best matches of the season in your home country, in this tournament you always wanted to play, and then in ten hours you’re in the hospital doing MRIs, but that’s what sport is about; that’s what makes you tough.”

We made a decision, my team and the federation, that I’m going to give my best

He said he had been told to pull out shortly before the semifinal.

“20 minutes before the match, I was told not to play. We made a decision, my team and the federation, that I’m going to give my best, that I’m going to tape my knee, and I’m going to step on the court,” he said. “My goal was to step on the court, to show my love to the Almaty fans, to show my love to the country. I was thinking I wasn’t going to survive for more than two or three games, but the crowd carried me on, and I stayed for the set, which was really an achievement and a victory for me today.”

The retirement ended the hopes of the home favorite, who marked ten years of representing Kazakhstan this week, of becoming the first Kazakh champion of the Almaty Open.

Medvedev: ‘The knee is never an easy place’

Medvedev, who now leads Bublik 7-1 in their head-to-head, pointed to Jannik Sinner, who is out for the rest of the season, and revealed that he had his own knee problems this summer.

“The knee, as we even see with Jannik, is never an easy place to have an injury. I myself was struggling a bit before the US series with the knee, so it’s never the best part of the body to get an injury on,” Medvedev said. “I just hope it’s nothing too serious, and maybe he can even play something more this year. This would be good to see, but it’s very unfortunate.”

The defending champion will face qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili in the final on Sunday as he tries to defend a title for the first time in his career.