Even though he lost to Andrey Rublev in three sets in Saturday’s Qatar Open final, Jack Draper of Great Britain will reach a new career-high ranking the following week.
The 23-year-old fought hard to defeat Rublev in the third set, losing 7-5 5-7 6-1 in just over two hours. Rublev was vying for his third career title and second ATP 500 crown in Doha.
Rublev put one hand on the title as he sprinted into a 5-0 lead in the decider, leaving the British number one, who had fought his way back into the championship match in the second set, on thin ice.
At the very least, Draper made the world number 10 serve out the final, which Rublev accomplished with his tenth ace of the day to win the Qatar Open for the second time, having previously done so in 2020.
However, Rublev has moved up one spot to world number nine, and Draper will now reach a personal-best ranking of 12th in the world when the new ATP Tour rankings are released on Monday.
In another match on Sunday, Rublev’s countrywoman Mirra Andreeva made history by defeating Denmark’s Clara Tauson 7-6[1] 6-1 in the Dubai Tennis Championships final.
At just 17 years and 298 days old, the teenager has now become the youngest-ever WTA 1000 champion, capping an incredible week in which she defeated three Grand Slam champions on her way to the title: Iga Swiatek, Marketa Vondrousova, and Elena Rybakina.