Daniil Medvedev triumphed at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a dominant display over defending champion Andrey Rublev.
Medvedev claimed the trophy with a 6-2, 6-2 win on Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium’s Centre Court.
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship 2023
It is a fortnight that has witnessed both Indian tennis legend Sania Mirza and Arab trailblazer Malek Jaziri call time on their careers with emotional ceremonies on Centre Court; Alexander Zverev continue his injury comeback by making his first semi-final since June 2022, Krejcikova bag a first Dubai title, and Novak Djokovic marking a record 378 cumulative weeks as world No. 1.
And now Medvedev’s magic.
The 2021 US Open Champion came in hot to Dubai this week having won back-to-back ATP Tour titles in Rotterdam and Doha and had dropped just 25 games, without losing a set, en route to Saturday’s final, including a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of world No.1 Djokovic in Friday’s semi-final.
Armed with a 13-game winning streak, Medvedev was arguably slight favourite against defending champion Rublev, No.2 seed this week, who improved as the tournament has developed.
Rublev, seeking to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2015 to win back-to-back titles, had brushed off another long-term friend in Zverev in straight sets in the semi-finals, but could not find a way past Medvedev, who takes a 5-2 lead in their head-to-head battles.
Rublev saved one break point in the opening game, but couldn’t save the second as a backhand into the net handed Medvedev an early lead.
From that point on the World No.8 always seemed in control, with opponent Rublev cutting a frustrated figure. He broke serve again in game eight to take the opening set 6-2.
As Rublev appeared to let his frustration get the better of him, Medvedev continued to press with his deceptive speed, whipped groundstrokes, and serve return capabilities and he struck a decisive break in game five, then broke again in game seven.
Rublev saved one match point at 40-0 in game eight, but Medvedev powered down another serve to seal a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory for his first Dubai title.
Medvedev’s fabulous February sees him become the third player in as many seasons to win three tournaments in successive weeks, joining Felix Auger-Aliassime (October 2022) and Casper Ruud (July 2021), and he was thankful to get his hands on the iconic Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships dhow trophy, awarded to the winner of this ATP 500 event.
“You always doubt what you do in practice, so I wasn’t really expecting what’s happened over the past three weeks, but I’m obviously very happy with how things have turned out, and looking forward to what’s next,” said a beaming Medvedev following his triumph.
“The match tonight was very tactical. Andrey can cause trouble to anyone on tour and every time we play he tries to make me suffer and I try to make him suffer, so I’m glad it went my way this time.
“I’ve felt at home since I arrived in Dubai. Even in the first match this week, I played a qualifier and the support was 50-50; great energy from the crowd here all week so thank you.”
Runner-up Rublev received a great ovation from the spectators before collecting his trophy, and responded: “Thank you very much, I’ve never had support like that. I’m really grateful and thank you to all for coming and supporting all of us.
“Because of you, our sport is growing and becoming more famous. I’ve played well this week, had some great matches, but Daniil destroyed me tonight. Three titles in a row, I don’t know how he is doing it, but I have huge respect for him. He’s a real champion.”
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