Excellent - lost sight he was playing! Rublev in the final, he has a 3-0 head to head over Jack, but its all a couple of years ago and Jack has improved a lot.
Thanks for that Jon. I thought it didn't seem right and the time lapse explains why.
For all the world this match looked like it was going to a tight first set tie break, then Jack faltered in the game he needed to win to make the tie break happen, he dropped the opening point of his serve for the first time in the match and followed with it with an attempt to win a cheap point with a short lob that barely cleared the net, but Rublev was much too close to it and took the point. Then Jack double faulted to leave him walking a tight rope with 3 break points to save. He saved two of them but couldn't save the last and the set was gone.
Nothing in those first two sets suggested that Jack would only win one game in the third, but Rublev found another level and Jack couldn't go with him on the day. That's tennis for you.
Final: (5) Andrey Rublev (***) WR 10 defeated (8) Jack Draper WR 16 by 7-5 5-7 6-1
Great shame, but all in all, a good week for Jack.
Yes definitely, goes up to CH 12 in the rankings and has managed a whole tournament without injury. Hopefully many more chances to win titles this year and maybe bigger ones. Onwards and upwards. Well done Jack.
-- Edited by Oscariyan on Saturday 22nd of February 2025 05:52:18 PM