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Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev locked horns in the finals of a tournament for the first time in their careers at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships. Rublev, the defending champion, fell short in the ultimate clash, granting Medvedev a hat-trick of title wins. The 27-year-old has lifted back-to-back trophies in Rotterdam and Doha in the past couple of weeks.
While it was a bitter defeat for the World No. 6, who lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, he had only positive things to say about his compatriot in the post-match press conference.
“He's a real, real great inspiration because he's very educated, he's very smart guy,” Andrey Rublev said about Daniil Medvedev. “Yeah, the way he play tennis, you can learn a lot of things by watching him.”
On a lighter note, Andrey Rublev observed what set the former World No. 1 apart from the rest. He stated that Daniil Medvedev was a source of great entertainment because of his unique and sometimes clumsy style of play.
“I think he brings funny moments. I think he brings entertainment because sometimes the way he acts, he do a bit - I don't know - not standard things,” the 25-year-old remarked. “Sometimes I feel he have no coordination. When he do the weird things on court, they look so funny.”
Daniil Medvedev set to replace Andrey Rublev as the World No. 6
Daniil Medvedev had a shaky start to his 2023 campaign in Australia. The 2021 US Open champion, who was ranked World No. 1 in 2022, suffered a slump in his rankings after facing a shock exit in the third round of the Australian Open. The Russian dropped out of the World’s Top-10 for the first time since entering the elite club in July 2019.
The 27-year-old, however, seems to have taken the unfortunate fall to heart as he reinstated himself inside the top-10 after spending a mere three weeks outside. Medvedev has done so in spectacular fashion, lifting three back-to-back titles in as many weeks, at the ATP 500 in Rotterdam, the ATP 250 in Doha and most recently, the ATP 500 in Dubai.
With his latest triumph against Andrey Rublev at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships, World No. 7 Medvedev is set to switch places with the World No. 6 on the ATP rankings list, come Monday.
The Russian duo will next be seen contesting the Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami from March 10 onwards.
