(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Armstrong Vas / The Peninsula
Doha: Frenchman Gael Monfils rode a dominant serving display and dogged defence to easily overcome the challenge of Russian youngster Andrey Rublev to win the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha yesterday.
Former world number six Monfils, who last triumphed at the Citi Open in 2016, cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in one hour after dominating from the start to win his seventh career title and his first in Qatar.
The 31-year-old, who arrived in Qatar after a four-month break due to a knee injury, was successful in his fourth final, having finished runner-up in Doha three times.
Monfils lost his first final in 2006 as a 20-year-old to Roger Federer, and thereafter finished on the losing side to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2012 and four years later to Rafa Nadal.
The World No. 46 ranked Monfils became only the second wildcard to win the Qatar tournament emulating 2004 winner and compatriot Nicolas Escude.
The right hander collected the winner's prize of $ 218, 180 while the Russian took home the cheque of 114,900.
'I'm very happy. I like this tournament so much, you know. I always come back. And I was very close and finally get it. So I'm just very happy and very proud, Monfils said after the final.
Monfils who was dogged by injuries last year and pulled out of six Masters tournaments is happy to start the new year on a winning note.
'Very happy. It's been a while -- it's been a year and I was waiting for this moment to get back in shape. It was in 2016, I was almost on my top and I had a very good year, finishing 6, and couldn't really defend my chances in 2017. Definitely, I haven't played so much in ‘17, 100 percent. And I had a long rest and come back strong in 2018 was a goal. I wouldn't say I was expecting to win the first tournament, but I'm more than happy that I did, added.
The Australian Open will be a completely different challenge said the winner.
'Australia is definitely something else, completely different. It's a Slam. I know it's going to be tough because I won't be seed. It's been a while since I played without being seeded. It's always an advantage in a Slam.
It's going to be interesting to see the draw, where I will be. I know I can have a very tough first round. So I just expect a tough first round. I will be well prepared to have a great tournament there, said Monfils.
Despite the loss, Rublev is projected to rise to a career-high No. 32 in the ATP Rankings. The Russian was disappointed with the loss in Doha.
'I think I was completely tired today. I mean, you can see that even my shots were not the same energy like previous matches. I was doing a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong shots. You can see even I was really slow today on the court, said Rublev.
'You can see that today I was really had no energy, no power in the legs and the speed of the ball was not even close like it was in previous matches, he added.
Rublev said he aims to take many positives from his performance in the first tournament of the year.
'Of course I'm disappointed. It's always tough to lose, especially in the finals. Sometimes it's even tougher to recover when you lose in the final then when you lose some semifinals or first rounds, said Rublev.
'It was great week for me. It's a great start for me. I didn't expect that I'm going to be in the finals, which is great. I'm of course I'm happy to be in the final. I'm happy with my result this week. And I hope and I wish I can be more consistent, and I hope it's not going to be only one week like this, added.
Yesterday a determined Monfils was a man on a mission in Qatar. He opened the match with an ace and never looked back, breaking Rublev on three occasions. He executed his game plan brilliantly.
Rublev threw everything at Monfils, but the Frenchman relishing the approach, hunt down balls and carved out improbable winners.
The Mikael Tillstrom pupil got an early advantage in the first set when he won a 24-shot rally to get the break in the fourth game, to take an grip over the proceedings.
It was an impeccable brand of tennis from Monfils and he took just 23 minutes to win the first set 6-2.
Another early break in the second set would prove to be decisive for Monfils, as he forced a forehand error from Rublev. The Russian was unable to capitalise on two break points, as Monfils held his nerve to the finish line.
A service winner would secure the victory after one hour and one minute.
In all Monfils, fired a total of 29 winners while striking only 10 unforced errors to put an end to his miserable injury ridden 2017 which saw his ATP Rankings slip down as he struggled with his fitness.
He was forced to withdraw from six tournaments with various ailments and concluded his season after the US Open, citing a right knee injury.
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