Andrey Rublev’s resurgence continued with 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 win over Jack Draper in the final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Saturday evening. Rublev reeled off the first five games of the decider to pull away from Draper in two hours and four minutes.
This is the first tournament that the 10th-ranked Russian has won twice, having previously triumphed in 2020.
“It feels amazing,” Rublev assured. “It’s my first-ever title that I won twice. I [had never won] the same title twice. So I’m really happy.”
The No. 5 seed’s impressive run to the icon Falcon trophy featured back-to-back victories in third-set tiebreakers over Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semis. Draper was coming off two consecutive three-set wins over Matteo Berrettini and Jiri Lehecka.
“I think both of us were really tired; both of us were kind of exhausted,” Rublev commented. “It was difficult, but somehow we were able to play at a good level–good rallies. I started to play much better (in the third set), much more free. And Jack the opposite. I think he was more tired; he was trying to play shorter points. I started to feel it, and that [made me more calm]. I was able to break him and then the match changed completely.
“Obviously I played (at) a good level (this week). I was in some moments really good mentally, not letting frustration get over me. As soon as I was frustrated I was able to restart again and was able to play with the same intensity and level. So I didn’t drop much. That’s the most important thing.”
Rublev is now 17-10 all time in ATP finals. The 27-year-old had mostly struggled since finishing runner-up at the Montreal Masters last summer and had a 4-4 record so far this season prior to arriving in Doha.
Draper is now 2-3 lifetime in ATP title matches.
nice one, Andrey