What Andrey Rublev couldn’t achieve in 2018, he did it in 2020 – and in style!
The 22-year-old Russian quelled the challenge of his two years junior Corentin Moutet from France to clinch the coveted Qatar ExxonMobil Open title and lift the glittering Falcon Trophy at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex on Saturday.
Rublev won the exhilarating final on a cool and breezy evening 6-2, 7-6 (3) in an hour and 26 minutes for his first Doha and his third ATP Tour title.
The Russian received the trophy from HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani, President, Qatar Olympic Committee.
The Russian also won $227,930 in prize and earned 250 FedEx ATP Rankings points which will see his ranking shoot into the top-20 on Monday.
Moutet got 150 points and $126,160 besides the runners-up plate.
Thrilled at having finally achieved what he could not two seasons ago when he lost to Frenchman Gael Monfils in the final, Rublev was a picture of delight.
“It’s amazing. I’m always really happy to play here. I always enjoy my time here and to finally win the title is something special for me,” he said.
“It’s a doubly amazing start to the season for me and I hope I can keep this level,” he added.
Rublev has always been in love with Doha since his debut tournament and has lost only two of the 11 matches he’s played thus far. He is now the third-youngest champion in tournament history, only trailing Andy Murray (2008-2009). He also joins Nikolay Dayvdenko (2010) as the only Russians to prevail at this event.
With the finalists having to play both of their respective quarter-finals and semis on the same day (Friday) as rain forced changes in schedule, were both fresh and eager on a day of clear skies, lot of breeze and finger-gripping chill.Nothing seemed to deter them though, and Rublev in particular as he made a racy charge breaking Moutet’s serve first up. Rublev led 3-0 in just nine minutes of play.
Moutet then engaged in a 33-shot long rally with Rublev and managed to hold serve.
Rublev, however, kept pressing and this led to frustration for Moutet who kicked his racquet mid-way while trailing 2-4. He couldn’t snatch the game, and in the next Rublev broke with ease to make it 6-2 in just 31 minutes.
It was then deja vu as Rublev won the opening game of the second set and broke Moutet again the in the second game, and run up a ditto 3-0 lead.
It was action repeat from Moutet, though this time he chose to bite the ball in frustration. Next he hit a ball into the stands inviting a warning from the umpire.
Down at 2-4, Moutet threw his racquet in disgust inviting a code violation.
While all this brought up the nervy temperament of the 20-year-old, there was a bright side too. The left-handed Moutet was crafty, unorthodox, deceptive and intelligent in his strokeplay.
He did keep Rublev guessing and was rewarded with a hard-earned break back in the eighth game.
At 4-all, the threat of Moutet making a magical comeback seemed possible. Afterall, the young player had defeated the third-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic in the quarter-final winning two dramatic tie-breaks.
The tie-break against Rublev, however, saw Moutet failing to take control. Rublev led 4-0 before Moutet could pick his first point, and by the time it was 2 for Moutet, Rublev had run to 6.
At 6-3, Rublev forced Moutet into playing a return into the net and it was all over for the Frenchman.
A thrilled Rublev then let off a big scream to celebrate his triumph.
Despite the loss, Moutet has plenty of positives to take from this week. The French qualifier ousted fourth-seeded Raonic and top-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka en route to clinching his first ATP Tour final appearance.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t win tonight because the opponent was too good. But I will remember this all my life,” Moutet said.
Also, Moutet will crack the top 75 in rankings for the first time.
Rublev, who has also excelled defeating the likes of Roger Federer, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios last season, will look to continue his good work at the year’s first Grand Slam in Australia from January 20th.
“There is still much to work on, but I’m happy to become a Top 20 player,” he said.
“I think this is a good part of me, that I still have a lot of space to improve. I want to try to arrive to my maximum and then we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
