“I’m a different player” – Draper relishes chance to face nemesis Rublev again in Doha final

Jack Draper continues to dig deep and find ways to win, even without his best tennis, even when down on the scoreboard. The blossiming British No 1 continued to flex his competitive muscles on Friday in Doha as he rallied from a set down for the second consecutive night and notched a 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 victory over Czech Jiri Lehecka to set a clash with Andrey Rublev in the Doha final. 

“I thought in the first set I put in a sloppy game,” Draper explained of his latest comeback victory. “Jiri comes out with such firepower, hitting big off both sides. Same as the last match, I started to get a bit of a lead on his serve, and was holding a bit easier, and creating a lot of pressure behind his serve.

“I felt more and more positive about my tennis, physically I felt better as the match went on, and I’m just very proud of the way I competed and played out there today.” 

The 23-year-old Brit keeps alive his nine-match winning streak at 500 events after claiming the title at Vienna last October. He improves to 7-1 overall on the season, and will bid for his third career title on Saturday.

Draper is now 5-0 in deciding sets in 2025, and he is up to a career-high No 12 in the live rankings.

After forcing a decider the Brit was turning the screws in the final set. He earned break points in the first and third games before turning the trick in the critical seventh game to lead 4-3. He would break again for good measure in the final game to close out his victory in two hours and 23 minutes. 

Saturday’s final will give Draper a chance to reverse a lopsided head-to-head with Rublev – the 23-year-old has lost all three previous encounters with the Russian, but the pair have not met since 2023.  

“I’m definitely a different player since I last played him,” Draper said. “But at the end of the day he’s a top 10 player, and someone that I respect massively. He’s someone who has been top 10 for many years now, and he’s going to come out and play incredibly well. I watched him play earlier this week and he’s there every ball – I’m going to be ready for that one, I look forward to the match and what’s to come.” 

Earlier in the tournament, Lehecka, ranked No 25, beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the No 7 seed (6-4, 6-4), Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (6-4, 6-2) and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed (6-3, 3-6, 6-4).

Doha ATP 500, other semi-final result (Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, hard, USD 3.035.960):

• Andrey Rublev beat Felix Auger-Aliassime: 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (5)

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