Rublev also picked it up in Dubai

Andrei Rublev put an end to the qualifying tournament dream week and world No. 123 tennis player Giri Veseli beat him in straight sets in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and was crowned champion at the 500 o’clock tournament by the United Arabs Emirates.

The 24-year-old Russian celebrated his 9th consecutive victory at the Tour and claimed his 2nd consecutive ATP title after last week’s triumph in Marseille (ATP 250).

Rublev defeated Veseli 6-3, 6-4 after 81 minutes of play to win the 10th ATP title of his career and play in the 15th final. This is the Russian’s fifth title in an ATP 500 series tournament.

But he served on a great day, finishing 42/58 points behind, serving 13 aces and limiting Veseli to just one break throughout the game (1/4 break point for the Czech).

The 28-year-old qualifier was obviously tired from the demanding victories of the past few days and couldn’t reach a high level of performance as he couldn’t put much energy into his game.

As a result, he made eight double faults, consuming just 59% of his first serve and winning 7/24 points behind second to concede three breaks and lose the final in straight sets (3/8 break points by Rublev).

The Russian winner moves even closer to the top 5 in the world rankings from next week and secures a place in the ATP table. In particular, he will climb to 6th place, overtaking Mateo Beretini.

Veseli, the Czech who stole the show in Dubai this week, racking up six wins and beating Djokovic, Sapovalov, Bautista Agut and Cilic, will rise from No. 123 to No. 74 in the world!

Source: Tennis24