Andrey Rublev overcame an early challenge before finishing strongly to defeat Britain’s Jack Draper 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 and claim the Qatar Open title on Saturday.
“It feels amazing. It’s the first time I’ve won the same title twice,” said a delighted Rublev. “I’m really happy. I don’t know what else to say.”
The opening set remained on serve for the first 11 games, with Rublev holding to love four times and Draper doing so twice. The Russian finally broke through at the crucial moment to secure the set.
The second set seemed destined for a tiebreak until Draper broke at 6-5 and served out to level the match.
Despite never having beaten Rublev in their three previous meetings, Draper entered the deciding set with momentum. However, Rublev quickly took control, breaking twice to race to a 5-0 lead. Draper managed to get on the board, but Rublev sealed the victory with two aces.
“I really like Jack as a person and I really like his game. He has a great career and future ahead of him. He will win many great things,” Rublev said.
Draper, who was aiming for his third ATP title after victories in Stuttgart and Vienna last year, fell short but achieved a career-high ranking of 12th.
“I want to congratulate Andrey. He was too good today. Outlasted me,” Draper said. “We played some tough matches this week. In the third set, he was a bit too strong for me.”
