Roberto Bautista Agut showed no signs of fatigue, having played a grueling three-setter on Thursday, when he faced a well-rested defending champion in Andrey Rublev in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open semifinals on Friday.
In his own words, after he won 6-3, 6-3, the 2019 champion said he had “felt fresh”. Bautista Agut will gun for his 10th ATP title when he faces Georgian world No. 42 Nikoloz Basilashvili in Saturday's final.
The in-form Rublev, who flew into Doha after winning the Rotterdam Open on Sunday, had the advantage of a long rest period reaching the last-four stage without playing a match after both Richard Gasquet and Marton Fucsovics pulled out of their respective matches with the Russian due to injuries.
The Spanish fifth seed on the other hand had battled past the tournament top seed Dominic Thiem 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-4 at the centre court of Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex less than 24 hours ago.
Yesterday, Bautista Agut was quickly on top of Rublev’s second serve and grabbed the only break point that came his way in the first set with a forehand winner to go 3-1 up, and then closing out the set in 27 minutes. Rublev only got in 63 percent of his first serves in, compared to his opponent’s 87 percent, in the first set. To make matters worse, Rublev won only 12 percent of his second serves, while Bautista Agut did not let anything get away on his second serve.
Bautista Agut took the momentum in the second set too, breaking Rublev in the first game. While the Russian did manage to restore parity in the very next game, he couldn’t clinch the break opportunities in the sixth game, allowing Bautista Agut to restore parity at 3-3. Eventually the Spaniard capped the affair with a backhand crosscourt winner past a net-bound Rublev for the win.
The win over the world No. 8 was Bautista Agut’s 14th over a top-10 player.
“It was very difficult to play tennis today, with the windy conditions,” the world No. 13 said after the win. “But I put a lot of pressure on his second serve and played really good tennis. I played a long match on Friday (against Thiem), but I felt fresh and I had a lot of power on the court.”
Reminiscing his title victory in 2019, when he beat Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals and then Tomas Berdych for the title, he said, “This court and tournament is one of my favourites I played one of my best matches here in Qatar two years ago, and I hope I can win one more match tomorrow."
Later in the evening, Basilashvili, after ending Roger Federer’s comeback appearance in the Qatari capital on Thursday, beat American 23-year-old Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3), 6-1 in an hour and 15 minutes for his sixth championship round appearance. The 29-year-old last won had last won a title on clay in 2019 in Hamburg, and on hard court in Beijing in 2018.
Basilashvili recovered from a slow start, battling back from losing eight of the first 10 points, to clinch the 52-minute first set, which ended with a Fritz forehand wide. The Georgian then surged to a 3-0 lead in the second set, which saw him lose only seven points.
“To reach the final means a lot,” said Basilashvili, who came into the Doha tournament on the back of a five-match losing streak.
The Georgian, who came back from a set down and even saved a match point against the Swiss 20-time Grand Slam champion in the quarter-finals, later said, “Probably nothing to lose at this point, because I had a pretty bad last eight months. I have zero expectations when I'm on court even though I'm playing. I'm feeling really well on court, feeling physically really well, feeling the ball, and I'm just a bit more relaxed than I usually am. That's why I think I'm playing really well this week.”
Talking about his final against Bautista Agut today, Basilashvili said, “He's very good player. He plays especially in Doha very well. He won this tournament. He's very good baseline player and he doesn't have many errors, so it's going to be tough match for me. Will be at the same time very interesting.”

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Singles (semifinals)
5-Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) beat 3-Andrey Rublev (RUS) 6-3, 6-3
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) beat Taylor Fritz (USA) 7-6 (3), 6-1

SATURDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court Starts at 6pm
5-Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)
 
 
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