Qatar Open: Rublev wins 17th career title

Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 5 seed, beat No 8 seed Jack Draper 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 to lift the Qatar Open trophy at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha on Saturday.

It is the first time in his career that Rublev has won the same tournament twice, his first title since Madrid last year, and his first ATP 500 title since Dubai in 2022.

It is also his fourth victory over Draper in four meetings.

Ahead of his victory, Rublev, ranked No 10, defeated Kazakh Alexander Bublik (6-3, 6-4), Portuguese Nuno Borges (6-3, 6-4), Australian Alex de Minaur, the second seed (6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8)) and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (5)).

Draper, ranked No 16, beat Australian Alexei Popyrin (6-2, 7-6 (4)), Australian qualifier Christopher O’Connell (6-2, 6-1), Italian Matteo Berrettini (4-6, 6-4, 6-3) and Jiri Lehecka (3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Doha tournament.

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