The Russian clinched his first title of the year, overcoming personal challenges to complete a Doha double on Sunday.
Moments after Andrey Rublev was done posing for photographs with the Golden Falcon trophy and signing autographs after downing UK’s Jack Draper for the title, it was time for the Russian to sit and reflect.
After all, the 27-year-old had just become the first player ever to win the upgraded ATP 500 Qatar ExxonMobil Open tournament, while completing a personal milestone. It was Rublev’s first time winning the same tournament twice having had the trophy aloft back in 2020.
Perhaps the journey made it more gratifying too. While the deciding set of the final on Saturday was won 6-1 rather easily, it was yet another long challenge that Rublev had to overcome.
Draper’s clutch show in the second set had nullified the eventual winner’s win in the first set and by the end, the match duration had exceeded two hours.
“The match was tough for both of us because we were exhausted from the two tough singles, me and Jack,” Rublev said when asked by Doha News after the 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 win. “Jack [Draper] was finishing really late. I was playing long matches and got tough, mentally.”
Rublev’s road to the finale had been an even longer haul. Just a day earlier, it had taken the Russian a gruesome tie — just 13 minutes shy of three hours — to overcome Felix Auger Aliassime in the semis. Similar was the story when he overcame second-seed Alex de Minaur in the last eight, the three-set tie lasting over two hours and a half.
While perseverance and rising up in the right moments were the highlights, in his reflection, Rublev had more to reveal. The Russian felt he was “in the right direction” all week in Doha.
“When you start to win, you start to, maybe, become blind. You start to feel like it’s normal. It feels like it is never enough,” said Rublev.
“The most important thing now is to remember the feeling that I was having beginning of the season, with the goals that I was stepping in, and to keep the attention to keep improving.”
The now two-time Doha champ had hinted at trying out various approaches to get better ahead of the ongoing season. That came in response to his series of underperformances in recent tournaments and more importantly, addressing his personal problems.
Rublev has made headlines for his animated antics dfuring matches — a way to let his frustrations out — which have in many occasions translated to extremes, including self-flageriting. It was only in October of last year that he made himself bleed after smacking his racquet over his knees in frustration.
At the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2025, however, that was not the case. For most part, Rublev’s monster, which he had previously referred to as one only directed towards himself, did not come out.
There was no extreme display of emotion, until the winning serve. In fact, Rublev was seen closing his eyes between the sets — in what seemed like a meditative state — before going on to dominate in the third. The secret, he said, was a washroom break and a change in approach.
“There was different approach in the third set. When I went to the bathroom, somehow, I was able just to let it go,” he said when asked by Doha News.
“I started to feel that Jack was getting even more tired. He started to play shorter rallies. He was not trying to play rally, he was trying to finish it as soon as he could. When I was able to break him, then he went even more down, and I went even more up.”
Throughout the tournament, Rublev had admitted to trying different approaches to prepare himself mentally for situations like those. Even at times when he was pushed to the brink, he kept his cool and came out on top. One such approach, which he disclosed, came from American basketball star, Steph Curry.
After watching a video of Curry revealing his tricks that helped him focus, Rublev decided to borrow one — writing a word in his shoes to keep track of what really matters. For him, the word was “responsibility”. “[It is] the word that helps me,” the Russian added.
A fan favorite for the most part, the win in Doha was his 17th title. With a newfound confidence and evidently better performance, he could be in for a season better than the last one.
“This week I was able to be more in peace,” Rublev added. “We’ll see if I can get even better, even better, and to be really more mature, like the best athletes that they are handling themself in the most difficult situations.”
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