Andrey Rublev of Moscow, Russia has won the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championship. On Saturday, Rublev defeated Jiri Vesely of Breznice, Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Vesely made tennis headlines earlier in the week when he upset 20-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, 6-4, 7-6.
In the final, Rublev had the significant edge over Vesely when it came to the serve. Rublev had 13 aces compared to only one double fault. Vesely had six aces and eight double faults. Vesely only won 44% of the points off his second serve.
This was Rublev’s 10th career ATP title and second this season. He previously beat Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 7-5, 7-6 in the final of the Open 13 in Marseille, France on February 20.
In Dubai this past week, Rublev was seeded second behind the top seed Djokovic. He beat Daniel Evans of Great Britain 6-4, 7-5 in the first round, Soon-woo Kwon of South Korea 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the second round, Mason McDonald of the United States 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and the number five seed and reigning Wimbledon semifinalist Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5. It is interesting that Rublev actually lost the first set in three of his five matches, and went on to win the tournament.
This is Rublev’s fifth ATP title in his career at the 500 level. He previously beat Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the final of the 2020 Hamburg European Open, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, Borna Coric of Croatia in the final of the 2020 St. Petersburg Open, 7-6, 6-4, Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in the final of the 2020 Viennia Open, 6-4, 6-4, and Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in the final of the 2021 Rotterdam Open, 7-6, 6-4.
