Andrey Rublev’s appearance in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is no surprise. His opponent on Saturday, on the other hand, is someone nobody could have predicted.
Jiri Vesely is ranked No. 123 in the world, thus being forced to qualify just to get into the main draw. The 28-year-old Czech did so successfully with a pair of three-set victories, and since then he has been off to the races. Vesely’s dream run features upsets of Marin Cilic, Roberto Bautista Agut, Novak Djokovic, and Denis Shapovalov. In the semis, Shapovalov served for the match at 5-4 in the third set only to squander his chance and lose 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 7-6(3).
A thrilling semifinal Friday also kicked off with a final-set tiebreaker, as Rublev battled to a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) win over Hubert Hurkacz. It was the seventh-ranked Russian’s third consecutive three-set success, having previously outlasted Soonwoo Kwon and Mackenzie McDonald. Rublev’s run–which began with a 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Dan Evans–has also been remarkable considering that he was already fatigued when the week started after lifting the trophy last Sunday in Marseille.
“I’m feeling super happy and super tired,” the 24-year-old said. “I could not imagine that it would happen this week again–that I would be in a final. I’m just happy.
“I could not imagine how (Stefanos) Tsitsipas did it twice, because two years in a row he won the title in Marseille and (reached) the final in Dubai. I was thinking that was impossible to do, and somehow I did it this year. I still don’t know even myself how I did it. Let’s see what happens next.”
What’s next, of course, is a match in which Rublev won’t be the only worn out competitor on the court. Vesely has already played six matches in Dubai–including his emotional upset of Djokovic–and he needed three hours and 12 minutes to get past Shapovalov. The underdog will obviously have to play a ton of defense in baseline rallies against Rublev, too, which does not bode well.
Vesely has never played in an ATP final above the 250 level. Rublev has won four 500 titles. Look for the Russian to remain on a roll.
Pick: Rublev in 2
WWW?
Rublev in 3
a great week for both men….and a DREAM week for Vesely….congrats to both….and Rublev in 2.
10/10 for teamwork, though.
You picked Shapo in 2 and got that way wrong. Let’s hope you redeem yourselves this time. 50% success rate wont cut it when you’re always jumping on the favorites.
You tail the bookmakers
Use other prediction sites
and band together to come up with your predictions.
I’m one man standing alone and I still outperform you by picking underdogs.
Why are you always talking about how tired the players are, you make them sound like they can barely play, which isn’t the case, they are pro’s and know how to take care of themselves, Rublev might not have been that tired after Marseille, you don’t know, by your reasoning Vesely should be less tired anyway.
I’ll take Vesely for the upset in 2.
Rublev in three
What a ridiculous tournament but I love it
PS I’m not betting against the Ves.
Good pick, the more I thought about it after, I did think Rublev might do it, Rublev might say he’s very tired, but his play did not suggest that, so I look at play and not the words.