Saturday, Daniil Medvedev defeated Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-2 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, completing his ATP Tour hat trick.
The impressive performance by the third seed, who defeated Novak Djokovic in the semifinals to end his unbeaten start to the season, extended his winning streak to 14 matches.
Medvedev became the third player since Casper Ruud in July 2021 and Felix Auger-Aliassime in October 2022 to win three titles in the same week after winning the titles in Rotterdam and Doha in February.
“It’s incredible since it wasn’t flawless at the start of the year. When you don’t win matches in tennis, you start to doubt yourself. “It simply feels better now,” Medvedev remarked. I’m looking forward to the next three weeks since the last three were fantastic.”
Medvedev now sits in sixth place in the ATP Live Rankings following the victory, moving above Rublev, who drops to seventh place.
Medvedev stated, “It was very tactical [match].” I am aware that Andrey has the ability to wreak havoc on everyone on Tour. He tries to make me suffer each time we play, and I try to make him suffer as well. I was able to win today, but the next match might be different.”
“After winning his 18th tour-level championship, Medvedev will compete in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to try to continue his winning run. In a news statement, the former World No. ATP noted, “1 is six victories away from matching his career-best victory run on the ATP Tour, having collected 20 straight triumphs from November 2020 to January 2021.”
“Medvedev performed comfortably against Rublev to frustrate the second seed and entered the final having not dropped a set all week. The 27-year-old remained deep behind the baseline in the first set to absorb Rublev’s aggressive hitting and produced only two unforced mistakes.
“Medvedev continued to strike the perfect balance between defense and attack after winning the opener. His precise crosscourt forehand turned the tables in the baseline exchanges, breaking twice in the second set to win.
“The 2022 champion Rublev was hoping to become the third player after Djokovic and Roger Federer to win the ATP 500 event in Dubai.”
