Emotional Rublev wins title in Dubai after plea for peace

DUBAI: An emotional Andrey Rublev said he will sleep for two days after securing his third trophy in seven days by ending the dream run of Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely with a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the Dubai final on Saturday.The second-seeded Russian won the singles and doubles titles in Marseille last Sunday before flying to the Emirates and clawing his way to a 10th career singles crown, and a fifth at the ATP 500 level.“For sure for the next two days I will sleep, I won’t leave my bed,” said Rublev, whose plea for peace in Ukraine after his win the previous night went viral across news stations worldwide.“Finally I can rest for maybe one week now. I feel super happy, even though maybe I’m tired.“I think I was lucky today that Jiri also was super tired.

He had really tough matches. He beat top players starting from the first round, so I was super lucky that he couldn’t perform the way he can.“I was lucky today and that’s why I’m happy to be the champion, I didn’t expect this.