Mitch Freeley

Gaël Monfils has been crowned the Qatar ExxonMobil Open Champion for 2018 following a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3 straight sets victory over Russian youngster Andrey Rublev. The victory for Monfils is the second ever time a wildcard entrant has gone all the way to claim the title, following compatriot Nicolas Escude in 2004. 

This was the fourth time that the flamboyant Monfils in the Doha final and the 31-year old was looking to his first win having previously missed out losing to Rodger Federer (2006) Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (2012) & Rafael Nadal (2014). The comprehensive victory assured that it was fourth time lucky for the Frenchman, who picked up his seventh career title in the process. 

Monfils took the initiative in the first set, and an early break of service in the fourth game swung the tie in the favour of the Frenchman. A further break in match eight gave the four-time finalist the set at 6-2 in just 23 minutes of play. 

Monfils broke the Russian again in the fourth game of the second set, giving himself a 3-1 advantage. 20-year-old Rublev, who came from a match point down in his three-set semifinal against Guido Pella, cut a frustrated figure often berating himself for missed shots. 

The final match seemed too much for the ATP Next Gen star, especially when you consider that Monfils didn't have to play his semifinal against number one seed Dominic Thiem after the Austrian pulled out through sickness at the last minute. 

Regardless Monfils kept his composure and sealed the Qatar Exxon Mobil open championship with a 6-3 second set victory, in just 1 hour.