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Andrey Rublev reached his third Qatar Open final after a “super tough” three-set triumph over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Andrey Rublev at the Qatar Open (AP)
Former winner Andrey Rublev reached the final of the Qatar Open on Friday with a 7-5 4-6 7-6(5) win over Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, and will meet Jack Draper in the decider after the Briton beat Czech Jiri Lehecka.
Rublev, winner in 2020, took the opening set with a break in the final game, before Auger-Aliassime broke the Russian fifth seed’s serve early in the second set and hit three aces in the final game to serve out for the set.
Auger-Aliassime fired 21 aces over the course of the match, compared to Rublev’s eight, but the Canadian went out after the deciding set went to a tiebreak. The Russian gained an early mini-break to lead 2-1 and that proved to be decisive.
“It was super tough today. I felt like there was not much I can do if he is serving like that,” Rublev said.
“He was serving well and I was just saying, okay, I cannot do much, this is one of the best servers on Tour. I just need to try to guess and when I have a moment, just go for it.”
Draper will bid to win his third ATP title after his 3-6 7-6(2) 6-3 win over Lehecka, having triumphed in Stuttgart and Vienna last year.
The Czech, who beat top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, took the opening set but after they traded breaks of serve in the second, eighth seed Draper came out on top in the tiebreak.
Draper broke to take a 4-3 lead in the final set, and then broke again to wrap up the semi-final win and will now face Rublev for the fourth time. The Briton has lost all three of their previous meetings.
“I’m definitely a different player since I last played him,” said Draper, who last faced the Russian at the 2023 U.S. Open.
“Someone I respect massively. Someone who’s been top 10 for many years now. He’s going to come out and play incredibly well. I watched him play here this week. He’s there every ball. So I’ll be ready for that one.”
Left-handed Draper will have to overturn a losing 3-0 head-to-head record to depose the Russian.
The 23-year-old is already assured of attaining the best ranking of his career after this week.
A US Open semi-finalist in 2024, Draper will rise from 16 in the world to 11 if he wins the Qatar title and 12th as runner-up.
(With inputs from Agencies)
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)
