Andrey Rublev says ‘there is no secret’ as he raises third trophy in a week

Russian star Andrey Rublev has won the Dubai ATP 500 by beating outsider Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-4

World no.7 Andrey Rublev has continued his fine run of form to raise his second consecutive ATP singles title and third in all this year, after also winning the doubles event in Marseille

Rublev entered the tournament as second seed with the ominous task of trying to win the first tournament of 2022 that also featured world no.1 Novak Djokovic. However it was Djokovic who couldn’t live up to his position as tournament favourite when he fell to Czech journeyman Jiri Vesely in the quarter finals.

Vesely topped a dream week by reaching the singles final with a hard fought, three tie-break, victory over Denis Shapovalov in the semi-final but he couldn’t continue the form and was well beaten by Rublev in the final match.

Of his latest trophy, Rublev said,

“There is no secret about the mental part and how to improve.

“Everybody has said these things a thousand times. All the best athletes in history, all the best philosophers, all of them, they’ve said many times..it’s about you.

“I think it is likely Jiri was also tired, he had really tough matches since qualies,” Rublev said. “He beat top players starting from the first round. [Marin] Cilic, he beat Roberto [Bautista Agut], then he beat Novak [Djokovic], yesterday he beat Shapo [Denis Shapovalov] 7-6 in the third. Trust me, when you beat these kinds of players, it’s almost impossible to stand up and walk, and he was able to play. Good job to him, good job for the week.”

? Free >> Receive our legendary newsletter

? Join >> Tennishead CLUB, the world’s only virtual tennis club

? Social >>Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube

? Order >> World’s best tennis magazine

? Shop >> Lowest price tennis gear from our trusted retail partner