Tennis

Former champions Andrey Rublev triumphed in a battle of former winners when the Russian star defeated Ugo Humbert 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday. The 2022 champion, Rublev dealt with a spirited showing from the 2024 Dubai winner to continue his good form having reached the semifinals at the Qatar Open last week. Earlier, Canada’s top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime recovered from a shaky beginning to beat French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi in

Steve Riley, who was in his early 20s when he first came to the UAE from the UK in the 1980s. The Briton quickly secured a position at Al Ain Hilton, before moving to Dubai Sheraton. But beyond his work, what stands out for Riley about the UAE is tennis. “I played a lot in the community tennis tournaments in Dubai before and even won the Dubai Tennis Open,” Riley said. This time, however, Riley was in Dubai for a different reason. Riley

In a first round clash of title-holders from the previous two editions of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Ugo Humbert beat Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets 6-4 7-5. Humbert, the left-handed Frenchman, won the Dubai title last year but was going in as defending champion after winning it here on Centre Court in 2019. Tsitsipas continued to make unforced errors, and on Tuesday Humbert was rewarded for the better consistency. “It’s nice to return where I won a tournament, but today

Just over a day after Stan Wawrinka spoke candidly about his friendship with Roger Federer in a press conference, the legendary Swiss turned out at the Dubai Tennis Stadium to support his friend. Federer’s eyes trained on the action from the Royal Box, Wawrinka, who is retiring after Wimbledon this year, rolled back the years with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Lebanese wild card Benjamin Hassan in Monday’s opening round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Hassan, who was born in Germany,

Elina Svitolina is over the moon to be back in the semifinals of a special tournament. Wed to French tennis player Gael Monfils, Svitolina recently made a heartwarming comeback into the WTA top 10 since she had given birth to their daughter Skai. Svitolina, who is a two-time champion at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, is now just two victories away from winning the tournament for the third time. On Thursday night, the 31-year-old staved off a ferocious wafts from Croatian Antonia Ruzic to secure a

Filipina sensation Alexandra Eala extended her fairytale week with a straight-sets victory over grizzled Romanian Sorana Cîrstea 7-5, 6-4 to advance into the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. It was also another full house that received the crowd favourite Wednesday night. And the 20-year-old didn’t let her adoring Filipino fans down, storming to victory on Center Court in a match-up that could turn into a mouthwatering quarterfinal against two-time Grand Slam winner US sensation Coco Gauff. The defeat followed a stunning win over world

Elina Svitolina got a walkover win when her round of 32 opponent, Paula Badosa, had to quit because of an injury, Svitolina said it wasn't how she wanted to win. She was up 6-4 when Badosa stopped due to a thigh problem, joining many others who've had to pull out of the tournament. Svitolina smiled when asked about her next match against Belinda Bencic from Switzerland. They’ve both been in the news lately for getting back into the top 10 after having kids.

If Belinda Bencic was ailing, particularly after withdrawing from the Abu Dhabi Open with an illness on her own doorstep, she did an excellent job of bucking the pain as she wore little more than a warm smile and flashed the victory sign to thousands of fans who serenaded her for selfies. The 28-year-old even took it a step further by posing for an adorable picture with a male admirer, who gave her his one-and-a-half year-old so she could hold him in the photograph. To

Belinda Bencic and Elina Svitolina have created history by becoming the first mothers to be ranked in the WTA Tour's top 10 at the same time, with the governing body calling it "an incredible moment for women's sport". Switzerland’s Bencic re-entered the top 10 for the first time since September 2023 in January as she was absent from the court after that date throughout her break to have daughter Bella. On Monday she was joined in the new rankings by Svitolina, mother of young Skai after

Dubai: World No 5 Elena Rybakina will headline a stellar field featuring Grand Slam champions, Olympic medallists and the game’s rising stars as the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open returns this season as a WTA 500 event at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City from January 31 to February 7. The 2024 Abu Dhabi champion has polished her game in a golden era of women’s tennis after historic Wimbledon success in 2022 set the Kazakh on her path to greatness. Rybakina has subsequently made it

The ATP on Thursday announced the establishment of a new Masters 1000 tournament to be held each year in Saudi Arabia from as early as 2028. It will be played on hard courts and held "at the start of the season" in a city to be determined, and will last "one week", ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said at a press conference in Paris. The long-expected move will be the first ever expansion of the top-tier category of men's tennis since its creation in

Jannik Sinner will be making his return to the court after a controversial doping suspension, and everyone will be excited to see him at his home tournament in Italy: the Rome Open. Having been dormant since agreeing a WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) suspension in February, Sinners is ramping back into action. He conducted a training session in front of thousands of fans on the center court at the Foro Italico. He is so popular that Sky Sport broadcast his practice match with

If the broadcasters of tennis were hoping for a success of tears streaming down the face of teenager Alexandra Eala after she pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the WTA season, they were left with the opposite. Yet, that last point when she broke world no 2 Iga Swiatek for the eighth time told us much more about the Filipina tennis player than any tears would. It all hit Eala as she was doing a post-match interview after which she quivered and was

Participants experienced both laughter and action-packed play throughout the second People of Determination Day during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The event aimed to promote sports inclusivity allowed participants from across the emirate to enjoy an active morning of tennis before meeting Indian doubles player Yuki Bhambri. The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium hosted more than 130 participants from eight schools and vocational training centres who received support from qualified coaches along with dedicated volunteers. The young enthusiasts experienced firsthand the unifying

Entering centre court at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as a considerable underdog with only one WTA trophy on her record Peyton Stearns faced Ons Jabeur who broke new ground as the first Arab player to reach a Grand Slam final on Monday evening.The 23-year-old American stepped up with fearless tennis to defeat the Tunisian 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 which advanced her to the next round. The world number 46 emerged victoriously from a first set tie-break won by a narrow margin to

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships' 33rd edition will start in about ten days with four past champions returning to compete in the emirate. The defending champion Ugo Humbert will compete alongside winners from the previous three years Daniil Medvedev from 2023, Andrey Rublev from 2022 and Aslan Karatsev from 2021. On-court play for the Championships will start February 16 at Dubai’s 25th WTA 1000 tournament followed by the ATP 500 event which starts February 24. The Championships promise great potential through two

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur reached the quarter-finals of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open by defeating 17-year-old Wakana Sonobe in straight sets 6-3 6-3 which sets up her against reigning champion Elena Rybakina who defeated Katie Volynets after trailing behind. USA’s Ashlyn Krueger delivered arguably the day's best performance with her stunning comeback victory over former runner-up Daria Kasatkina while Belinda Bencic and Leylah Fernandez advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Veronika Kudermetova and Lulu Sun respectively. Jabeur reached the last 16 through an impressive

Soon after they landed in the capital, three of the players taking part in the ongoing third edition of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open at the International Tennis Centre, were given a tour of Louvre Abu Dhabi. In pictures taken before the tournament kicked off, the Novi Sad and Belinda Bencic, the first winner of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open in 2023, Daria Kasatkina, who finished second last year, and Leylah Fernandez, a finalist for the Grand Slam, were photographed in front of the iconic

The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open lineup now includes Caroline Garcia, Marketa Vondrousova, Ashlyn Krueger, and Wakana Sonobe for the event at the International Tennis Centre in Zayed Sports City from February 1-8.  The third edition of the all-female WTA 500 event builds anticipation while its strong field gains strength from four additional players who have received wildcards with Garcia, Vondrousova and Krueger entering the main draw and Sonobe entering the qualifiers.  At 31 years old French player Garcia has claimed 11 WTA Tour

The Rod Laver Arena witnessed Jannik Sinner claim consecutive Australian Open victories when he defeated Alexander Zverev in the final match for men’s singles in Melbourne on Sunday. Sinner won the match convincingly with score results of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.  Jannik Sinner maintained his title by defeating Nicolas Jarry, Tristan Schoolkate, Marcos Giron, Holger Rune, Alex de Minaur in his successful defense campaign. He secured victory over Ben Shelton during the semi-final match with straight sets wins.  When is Jannik Sinner's CAS hearing?