This week’s ATP 500 event in Doha featured a stacked field led by the likes of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, but neither of them will be in the final, with Andrey Rublev and Jack Draper duking it out for the title. Both players had impressive campaigns this week, winning a lot of tight matches to get to this stage, and the final should be a very quality and close affair as well. But who do you think will claim the title at ATP Doha?
ATP Doha Final Prediction
Andrey Rublev vs Jack Draper
Head-to-head: Rublev 3-0 Draper
Both players survived very tough quarterfinal and semifinal encounters to get to this stage and will be looking to win their first title of the year tomorrow. Rublev has long been a top 10 mainstay and a dominant force at the ATP 500 level (where he has already won six titles), while Draper is closing in on a top 10 debut (No. 12 if he loses, No. 11 if he wins) and won his first ATP 500 late last year in Vienna. Their three previous meetings were all dominated by Rublev, but Draper has improved a lot in recent times, especially as far as his fitness is concerned, while Rublev has become quite an inconsistent player lately, alternating great weeks and titles with spells where he can barely buy a win. All things considered, this is very close to a 50/50 match.
Both players have been playing at a very high level at ATP Doha, so this should be an extremely tight match decided by who holds their nerve and executes better in the big points. Rublev has far more experience at this level (he is even a former champion and two-time finalist at this event), and he’s survived two third-set tiebreakers to get to this stage so that he might have a bit of an edge in that regard, but it should really go down to the wire.
Prediction: Rublev in 3
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey – USA TODAY Sports
