Daniil Medvedev beats Andrey Rublev to win Dubai Duty-Free Championship

Daniil Medvedev continued his red-hot form as he bested his compatriot Andrey Rublev in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Dubai Duty-Free Championship on Saturday. Medvedev won his third consecutive trophy on the hard court as he has been ticking the right boxes in the last few weeks.

The 27-year-old dominated both sets and wrapped up the game in 68 minutes. Before winning in Dubai, Medvedev had won in Rotterdam and Doha after beating Jannik Sinner and Andy Murray in the summit clash. Furthermore, Medvedev also defeated the World No.1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinal clash 6-4, 6-4.

In fact, Medvedev, who was a runner-up at the 2022 Australian Open, was knocked out of the Happy Slam in the third round by Sebastian Korda as the Russian had lost in straight sets.

“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.”

Medvedev improved his 2023 record to 19-2 and this was his 18th tour-level title. The Russian feels it was a tactical match and he was delighted that he could dominate his countryman. With this win, Medvedev improved his head-to-head record to 5-2 against Rublev.

“It was very tactical [match],” Medvedev 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.”

Medvedev will look to continue his good form in the upcoming matches.