Rublev downs Draper to win Qatar ExxonMobil Open

Russian Andrey Rublev was given a tough test early on, but finished in style to beat Britain’s eight seed Jack Draper 7-5 5-7 6-1 and win the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Saturday.Fifth seed Rublev, who also won the title in 2020, claimed his first tournament win since his triumph at the Madrid Open last April, but was made to battle in the opening two sets."It feels amazing. It’s the first time I’ve won the same title twice,” a delighted Rublev said."I’m really happy. I don’t know what else to say.”The opener went with serve for the first 11 games, with Rublev serving to love on four occasions and Draper twice doing likewise, before the Russian finally broke the Briton to take the first set.The second set appeared to heading towards a tiebreak when Draper managed to break for a 6-5 lead and served out to level the match.Draper had never beaten Rublev in their three previous meetings, and went into the deciding set with the wind in his sails, but Rublev showed no mercy.Rublev broke twice early on to storm into a 5-0 lead and while Draper managed to avoid a bagel, the Russian fired down two aces to wrap up the win."I really like Jack as a person and I really like his game. He has a really, really great career and future ahead. He will win many great things,” Rublev said.Draper failed in his bid to win his third ATP title after winning in Stuttgart and Vienna last year, but the 23-year-old’s run to the final will lift him to a career-high 12th in the rankings."I want to congratulate Andrey. He was too good today. Outlasted me,” Draper said."We played some really tough matches this week. In the third set he was a bit too strong for me.”Cash-Glasspool cruise to Doha titleJulian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool wasted little time adding a third tour-level title to their flourishing partnership on Saturday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.The pair prevailed 6-3, 6-2 in an all-British championship match against Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski in Doha to reassert their status as one of the doubles teams to watch in 2025. Cash and Glasspool, who made their team debut last September and have since lifted trophies in Tokyo in October, in Brisbane in January and now in Doha, are now up to third in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings."We really enjoyed our time here. Lloyd and I put a lot of effort in and it’s kind of showing early in the year, which is nice,” said Cash. "Hopefully we can keep improving and get some bigger titles down the road.”When asked about prospects for the rest of 2025, Glasspool added: "I try to have low expectations, honestly. Just try to keep working hard, have belief in our level and trust it, and see what happens. If you put that hard work, eventually it should hopefully show at some point.”Having opened their Doha campaign with back-to-back Match Tie-break wins, Cash and Glasspool’s victory in their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Salisbury and Skupski was far more straightforward. They broke serve twice in each set en route to a one-hour, one-minute win during which they won 82 per cent (33/40) of points behind their own first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats.By lifting the title in Doha, the 28-year-old Cash ensured he will on Monday rise to a career-high No 19 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings. He will join No 3 Henry Patten, No 17 Skupski and No 18 Glasspool to mark the most Britons in the Top 20 in PIF ATP Rankings history.