Irresistible Rublev Races Past Vesely To Dubai Title

Even by his own high standards, Andrey Rublev is enjoying the month of his life.

The Russian produced one of the performances of the season to surge to the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, ending Jiri Vesely’s dream run in the desert with a 6-3, 6-4 win in Saturday’s championship match.

The 80-minute victory made it 13 matches won in a row for Rublev across singles and doubles, after the Russian won both titles in Marseille before his run in Dubai.

The No. 123-ranked Vesely was bidding to become the first qualifier to win the Dubai title, but he was unable to recreate the heroics from his stirring victories over Doha champion Roberto Bautista Agut, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Denis Shapovalov that earned him a spot in the final.

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Having battled through tough three-setters in his previous three matches, Rublev looked to have no intention of working overtime again in the final. He raced out the blocks, breaking Vesely in the fourth game, and did not drop a point behind his first serve as he charged to the first set.

There appeared to be little Vesely could do as the World No. 7 continued to produce a stunning level in the second set. Rublev broke in the opening game, but the Czech showed real fight to reclaim it for 3-3, pumping up the delighted crowd as he tried to get back into the match.

Rublev responded by knocking the wind out of the Vesely resistance, immediately breaking again and going on to seal a comfortable victory as two-time ATP Tour title-winner Vesely struggled to cope with the Russian’s combination of power and consistency. Rublev ended the match with 28 winners to Vesely’s 21, and only struck eight unforced errors as he dominated from the baseline.

The win means Rublev’s semi-final defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime in Rotterdam was his only singles loss across three tournaments in February. The Dubai title is the Russian’s 10th on the ATP Tour and extends his match record in 2022 to 10-2.