Daniil Medvedev on Saturday continued his impressive form with a win 6-2, 6-2 over compatriot Andrey Rublev in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final, claiming his third title in three weeks.
Defending champion Rublev, bidding for a second straight title in Dubai, was unable to put up much resistance as he did not have a single break point during a battle between childhood friends that lasted just more than an hour.
Medvedev, who entered the final having not dropped a set this week and ended Novak Djokovic’s unbeaten run in the semi-finals, added to last month’s titles in Doha and Rotterdam to take his tally to 19 tour-level titles.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It is amazing because at the start of the year, it was not perfect. In tennis when you don’t win matches you have doubts. Now it just feels better,” Medvedev said.
“I was really happy with these three weeks and I am looking forward to the next ones,” he said.
“I know Andrey can cause a lot of trouble to everyone on tour. Every time we play he tries to make me suffer, I try to make him suffer. Today I managed to be on top, but the next match could be a different story,” he added.
The 27-year-old, who sent down nine aces and converted 57 percent of the breakpoints he won in the final, moves to sixth in the ATP rankings, while Rublev drops to seventh.
“I think it’s a good thing for Daniil that he’s doing this, for his career, for his life, that he’s achieving those things. Three titles in a row, it’s unreal. What else to say?” Rublev told a post-match news conference.
Former US Open champion Medvedev next travels to the US, where he would seek to continue his winning run at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, from March 19 to April 2.
In Acapulco, Australia’s Alex de Minaur defeated Tommy Paul of the US in three sets to win the Mexican Open.
The 24-year-old de Minaur fought back after dropping the opening set to clinch the seventh title of his professional career with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory.
The win was the seventh title of de Minaur’s career and his first in an ATP 500 event.
“It feels great, it feels amazing,” De Minaur said in an on-court interview following his win.
De Minaur’s dogged performance was epitomized by the opening game of the final set, when he saved five break points to hold before winning in 2 hours, 27 minutes.
Additional reporting by AFP
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ¥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ¥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,