DOHA/STARNBERG, February 21, 2025
Andrey Rublev headlined Friday’s action at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The 2020 champion and fifth seed of the ATP 500 hard-court tournament secured his place in a third Doha title match with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(5) semi-final victory over Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Despite facing 21 aces from his opponent, Rublev held firm to claim the win in two hours and 47 minutes, advancing to his first tour-level final since Montreal last August.
Rublev comes through THRILLER! @andreyrublev97 takes out Auger-Aliassime 7-5 4-6 7-6 after 2hrs 46mins to reach the final in Doha#QatarExxonMobilOpen pic.twitter.com/SX381NS9qG
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 21, 2025
“[It took] everything. It was super tough today,” said Rublev. “I felt like there was not much I can do if he is serving [like that]. I just needed to be really lucky to break him… 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.’ At 6-5 was the only match point I had, a good [opportunity], and I missed by a little bit. But it happened.”
Draper overcomes Lehecka
Rublev will take on Jack Draper in the final. The eighth-seeded Briton rallied from a set down to outlast Jiri Lehecka from the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3. Draper fired 14 aces and won 88 per cent of his first-service points to advance in two hours and 22 minutes.
Draper is seeking his first win over Rublev in the pair’s fourth meeting on Saturday.
