Andrey Rublev captures his 3rd career, and first Doha title
IN HIS SECOND DOHA FINAL, ANDREY RUBLEV WINS 4 MATCHES IN 3 DAYS TO CAPTURE THE FALCON
RUBLEV ETCHES HIS NAME ON DOHA’S WALL OF CHAMPIONS
Since 1993, the State of Qatar has hosted the ATP World Tour‘s elite talent at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Several legends of the game, past and present, have captured the week-1 title in Doha — including Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
This year, Andrey Rublev became the 22nd player to lift the Falcon. 2-years-ago, as a 20-year-old Next Gen contender ranked outside the top-30, the Russian came-up short in the title match against Monfils. In 2020, he captured his 3rd career title in just 8-sets of tennis, capping the week with a straight-sets win over new Next Gen contender Corentin Moutet.
Thanks to the weather, this was no easy ask
After a wash-out on Thursday, both Rublev and Moutet had to win their Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches on Friday. Andrey scored two quick wins over Herbert and Kecmanovic. Remarkably, Moutet earned deciding-set wins over Verdasco and Wawrinka — two of the biggest wins of his career, on the same day.
Rain wasn’t the only derailment. Sadly, on the eve of the championship match, Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said passed away. In solidarity with the people of Oman and with the deepest respect, all entertainment surrounding the championship match was cancelled. No music was played during changeovers. The trophy ceremony’s laser and fireworks show was called off. The entire tournament ended on a subdued and somber note to reflect the sorrow Qatar’s royal family felt for Oman. That said, Thursday’s washout and Friday’s news created one of the most memorable conclusions in Qatar ExxonMobil Open history.
What both Rublev and Moutet accomplished on Friday was extraordinary. The Championship match was pure tennis.
[vector_icon icon=”fas fa-camera” color=”#ffffff”] [vector_icon icon=”fas fa-camera-retro” color=”#ffffff”] IMAGES: SAMER AL-REJJAL AND VINOD DIVAKARAN | [vector_icon icon=”fas fa-video”] VIDEO: SAMIR SAAD, FRANK KELLER OF UCOM
Recaps of the 18 matches played on Center Court — plus the Quarterfinal and Doubles Final played on Court-1
The Quarterfinals
Round of 16
Round-1
Qualifying Rounds and Draw Ceremony
2020 Qatar ExxonMobil Open | The Draw Explained
A FORMER CHAMPION AND TWO PAST FINALISTS DESCEND ON DOHA
Originally, two former Qatar ExxonMobil Open Champions were slated to appear in this year’s field: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2012) and Richard Gasquet (2013). Unfortunately, Gasquet hasn’t fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered in October before the Paris Masters, and he withdrew from the tournament on December 30th.
The two former Finalists in this year’s draw include Stan Wawrinka (2008) and Andrey Rublev (2018).
CELEBRATING 28-YEARS OF CHAMPIONS
This year’s winner will lift the Qatar ExxonMobil Open’s falcon for the 28th time. That said, since 1993, only 21 different players have captured the Doha title. Stefan Edberg, Petr Korda, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic all own two titles, while Roger Federer owns three.
Should Jo-Wilfried Tsonga string together five consecutive victories at this year’s event, that number of 21 champions holds firm.
LEADING NATIONS | Qatar ExxonMobil Open Singles Titles:
▲ FRA: 5 | Fabrice Santoro, Nicolas Escude, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils
► ESP: 3 | Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Roberto Bautista Agut
► SUI: 3 | Roger Federer
THE FIELD OF 32 AT THE 2020 QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN INCLUDES:
* 21 direct entry players – Top-4 seeds receive Round-1 Bye
* 4 Qualifiers – Qualifying features 2-Rounds / 16-Players
* 3 Wild Cards
54 TOTAL MATCHES AT KHALIFA OVER 8-DAYS OF COMPETITION
* 12 Qualifying Matches on the 4th and 5th
* 27 Singles Matches over 5-Rounds
* 15 Doubles Matches over 4-Rounds
MAIN DRAW ENTRY LIST:
[1] Stan Wawrinka -16- (SUI) 2008 Singles Finalist
[2] Andrey Rublev -23- (RUS) 2018 Singles Finalist
[3] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga -29- (FRA) 2012 Singles Champion
[4] Milos Raonic -31- (CAN)
[5] Laslo Djere -38- (SRB)
[6] Filip Krajinovic -40- (SRB)
[7] Adrian Mannarino -43- (FRA)
[8] Frances Tiafoe -47- (USA)
* Fernando Verdasco -49- (ESP)
* Jeremy Chardy -51- (FRA) 2017 Doubles Champion
* Lorenzo Sonego -52- (ITA)
* Alexandr Dolgopolov -PR- (UKR) Withdrawal
* Alexander Bublik -56- (KAZ)
* Aljaz Bedene -58- (SLO)
* Miomir Kecmanovic -59- (SRB)
* Richard Gasquet -61- (FRA) Withdrawal
* Jordan Thompson -63- (AUS)
* Pablo Andujar -64- (ESP)
* Pierre-Hugues Herbert -65- (FRA) 2019 Doubles Champion
* Ricardas Berankis -66- (LTU)
* Mikhail Kukushkin -67- (KAZ)
* Tennys Sandgren -68- (USA)
* Kyle Edmund -69- (GBR)
[WC] Marco Cecchinato -71- (ITA)
[WC] Malik Al Jaziri -201- (TUN)
[WC] Cem Ilkel -283- (TUR)
QUALIFYING ENTRY LIST:
[1] Marton Fucsovics -70- (HUN)
[2] Michael Ymer -74- (SWE)
[3] Gregoire Barrere -82- (FRA)
[4] Corentin Moutet -83- (FRA)
[5] Alejandro Davidovich Fokina -87- (ESP)
[6] Thiago Monteiro -89- (BRA)
[7] Damir Dzumhur -93- (BIH)
[8] Ivo Karlovic -95- (CRO)
* Salvatore Caruso -96- (ITA)
* Alexei Popyrin -97- (AUS)
* Egor Gerasimov -98- (BLR)
* Jiri Vesely -105- (CZE)
* Andrej Martin -107- (SVK)
* Gianluca Mager -118- (ITA)
[WC] Mousa Shanan Zayed -NR- (QAT)
[WC] Rashed Nawaf -NR- (QAT)
► Rashed Nawaf is a 14-year-old Doha sensation. Just 12-days-ago, the teenager became the first Qatari ever to reach the Final of the Junior Orange Bowl in Miami. A student athlete at Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, last March he won the prestigious 14-and-under Pris Tournament in Stockholm.
Since then, Doha has been a week-one beacon for the ATP Tour's elite to knock the rust off, and fine-tune their talents for the coming season. With top-shelf amenities and the Qatar Tennis Federation's determined focus to make every athlete feel at home, Doha offers an easy-going, distraction-free environment to prepare for the year's first Major. From the facilities to the transportation, from the professional staff to the fan-focused presentation, Qatar offers a tremendous opportunity for each player to re-acclimate to the demands of a long and relentless season. It's no wonder players have voted the event ATP-250 Tournament of the Year in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Humbled to return as the Voice of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, and excited to see what the new year brings.