Back

Lifestyle

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship

20 February 2023 Written by silvana

Dubai’s Duty Free Tennis Championship continues its winning streak tradition this year, by welcoming the tournament’s top players to the city and lining up an elite field of stars at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. The action will get under way on February 19th and will conclude with a grand finale on the 4th of March.

Dubai Duty Free is one of the most important tournament stops in the ATP and WTA world tours. The tournament is considered the pinnacle of sports events in the Middle East and will play host to some of the world’s best tennis players, welcoming the circuit’s top stars with two weeks dedicated to both female and male competitions.

The WTA 1000 women’s event will run from February 19th to 25th, and the ATP 500 men’s tournament will take over from February 26th to March 4th. This will be the 23rd staging of the ladies’ WTA event and the 31st one for the ATP tour.

A prize of almost $3 million will be up for grabs, for the players who compete this month in Dubai, and the tournament winner will receive more than half a million dollars and 500 points in ATP. There will be $287,320 and 300 points going to the finalist, while semi-finalists will bring home $153,125 and 180 points.

A Line Up of Stars

The two-week-long tournament in Dubai will kick off with the women’s WTA 1000 competition, while the main draw will take place between the 19th to 25th of February.

The official entry list has long been confirmed by the show’s organisers, for both men’s and women’s tournaments and it doesn’t get better than where it’s at, in terms of the competition level. World number one tennis player Novak Djokovic, along with last year’s winner Andrey Rublev and Iga Swiatek, the world’s top-ranked female player, have all confirmed attendance, so Dubai is in for an unmissable tennis show this month.

While the men’s draw is led by the number one Novak Djokovic, a remarkable 18 of the world’s top 20 women players are confirmed to compete at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, including Aryna Sabalenka, last month’s Australian Open winner. Novak was also making history at the Australian Open in January when he emerged as the big winner in the men’s tennis title, so it will be amazing for fans to see both players inside the Dubai stadium in the next coming days. Other significant figures playing in this year’s tournament will be British player Andy Murray, former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev, and Olympic gold medallist Alexander Zverev.

The strength of this year’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship speaks for itself, reinforcing the popularity of the event similar to the Grand Slams, when it comes to featuring “la crème de la crème” in the tennis world.

Top Female Players to Watch

The Tennis Championship in Dubai will serve up an elite female field, starting with Polish star Iga Swiatek, ranked the world’s number one at the moment. Having already won eight single titles in 2022, she also established a new record of 37 match victories in a row, going 135 days, without losing. This year, she will be on a mission to avenge her second-round loss to Jelena Ostapenko at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Aryna Sabalenka is coming to Dubai this month fresh from being the big winner at January’s Australian Open Grand Slam. Her victory over Elena Rybakina came just months after she advanced to the final four of the US Open for the second year in a row, propelling her to the world’s second-best female player.

Jessica Pegula is another strong presence at this year’s tennis event. She has reached the quarterfinals of five Grand Slam tournaments, including the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open, and is currently ranked fourth in the world.

Men’s ATP 500

Men’s event has a smaller field this year at the tournament, due to it being an ATP 500, but the round-up of stars leading the competition elevates it to the highest heights.

Novak Djokovic will be joined by defending champion Andrey Rublev, who will compete to retain the title he won in 2022, at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Last month, Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open, securing his 10th title in Melbourne after winning straight sets against the Greek player. Djokovic broke a new record of 22 men’s Grand slam single titles, thus returning to number one in world rankings. He is no stranger to the Dubai tournament, as he won the trophy six times already.

Tennis legend Andy Murray will be adding yet more value to the field, as he confirmed his participation at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, after accepting a second wildcard from organisers. Former world No 1 and Wimbledon champion, Murray won the Dubai title in 2017, and this will be his first appearance at the ATP 500 event since his victory. No doubt, he will be joining a strong line of contenders.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai. The event has a long history of welcoming top players in the world. It came to life in 1993 as the Dubai Men’s Open, and ever since, it has gone from strength to strength.

This year, the tournament prepared an extensive off-court entertainment programme, promoting Dubai as a top sporting destination worldwide. It continues to attract fans from all over the world and broadcasts to global audiences across Europe, Asia, and Australia.