Qatar Open: Bautista Agut takes revenge on Basilashvili, crowned champion

Bengaluru, February 19: Roberto Bautista Agut dethroned defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the Qatar ExxonMobil Open title at the hard-courts of Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Saturday (February 19) night.

It was the Spaniard's first ATP Tour title since 2019 as he improved his ATP Head-To-Head record over the Georgian rival to 4-2 and and improved to 11-3 on the season.

The seasoned pro had not won a tournament since he was crowned Qatar ExxonMobil Open champion in 2019, before repeating that feat three years later with a straight-sets success.

In a virtual repeat of last year's final in the Qatari capital, a pumped-up Bautista Agut played consistently and aggressively from the baseline to gain revenge over Basilashvili.

"I am very happy," Bautista Agut said in the on-court interview in Doha.

"It has been a while since I lifted a trophy. I have been working very hard to reach another final and to get the chance to win another title. It was a big dream for me to win a title and I have now won twice in Doha. It is very special for me and I am very happy."

The 33-year-old fired his groundstrokes through the court and rallied from a break down in the first and second sets to seal his victory after 86 minutes.

It is the second time Bautista Agut has lifted the trophy at the ATP 250 event, having clinched the crown in 2019.

The world No. 16, who dropped just one set en route to the title, has now won 10 ATP tour-level crowns, holding a 10-9 record in championship matches.

Doha is the second ATP Tour tournament where Bautista Agut holds multiple titles, after lifting the trophy in Auckland in 2016 and 2018.

"It was a really tough final," Bautista Agut added. "This year we played without wind, which was much better for me. It was not easy to recover after a really tough battle yesterday, but I think I did a good job today. It is my 10th ATP Tour title and I am very happy."

Basilashvili was aiming to win his sixth tour-level title. This week, the 29-year-old third seed defeated Mikael Ymer, Marton Fucsovics and Arthur Rinderknech as he regained his top form to reach the final.

"I am super happy with how I played in this tournament," Basilashvili said.

"I love coming back here. I would like to congratulate Roberto for a great tournament. I would like to thank the crowd. I am super proud to play in front of you," the Georgian added.

Earlier, Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov's wait for a till-now elusive doubles title continued, as they lost to 6-7 (4-7), 1-6 to the Dutch-British pair of Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in the final.

At the hard-courts of Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, the Indo-Canadian pair were seeking their first trophy together, after also reaching the final in Stuttgart in 2019.

The unseeded duo had also reached the semifinals in St Petersburg in October. But the third-seeded pair of Koolhof and Skupski had other ideas and they poved too good to cap off another dominant week in style to capture the title in Doha.

(With ATP inputs)