Twenty-two year-old Russian star Andrey Rublev will face 20-year-old French Corentin Moutet in the final of the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open in Doha. Both players won their quarter finals and semifinals on Friday after rain washed out Thursday’s programme.
Rublev beat Pierre Hugues Herbert 6-4 6-3 in the quarter final before cruising to a 6-3 6-1 win against 20-year-old Miomir Kecmanovic, who was the only player to play his quarter final on Thursday before the rain wash-out.
Rublev broke once in the second game of the first set and three times in the second set.
Rublev will play in the Doha final for the second time in his career two years after finishing runner-up to Gael Monfils in 2018. The Moscow-native player will be bidding to win his third ATP Tour final after Umag 2017 and Moscow 2019.
“It’s amazing when at the beginning of the season you go to the final. It’s an amazing feeling. We will see what’s going to happen tomorrow. Today I felt even better in the second match than the first match. I was moving better. I was hitting better. The energy was much better in the second match”, said Rublev.
Moutet beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4 4-6 6-4 in 2 hours and 12 miinutes in the quarter final before recovering from one set down to defeat Stan Wawrinka 3-6 7-5 6-3 after 2 hours. Wawrinka had previously beaten Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-4 in the quarter final.
Wawrinka saved three break points in the opening game before breaking serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead and held his next service games to win the first set 6-3. Moutet won the second set with a break in the 12th game. Moutet converted his third break point at deuce in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Wawrinka saved two break points and held his serve in the fourth game after three deuces.
“Moutet feels the game really well. He has good touch. He is mixing a lot. I think he is moving really fast. He anticipates well. Today he won because he was more aggressive. I was not good enough today to push him back and that’s made the difference. He is a young player and great player”, said Wawrinka.
