Dubai: There could be a change of guard at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships this year, with World No. 3 and ATP Tour Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov leading the list of direct entries for the men’s title at Dubai Tennis Stadium next month.
With defending champion Andy Murray out injured, the field may have opened up for a new title holder to hold the trophy aloft when play commences for the men’s week on February 26.
Dimitrov, who will be making his second appearance in Dubai having played here in 2011, has emerged as a genuine contender for the World No. 1 position after a blazing run in 2017.
The 26-year-old Bulgarian rocketed up the rankings last year, jumping 14 places to finish the year as World No.3. His stellar season saw him make it to five tour finals, collecting four titles, including his first Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati, ending the year with a huge victory in the ATP Tour Finals in November.
However, Dimitrov will face a tough challenge from a contingent of powerful young guns including Lucas Pouille, Damir Dzumhur, and Karen Khachanov, as well as giant killers Evgeny Donskoy and Damir Dzumhur.
At the start of 2016 Pouille was only just in the top 100 but is now knocking on the door of the top ten. At 23 the rising star has already collected four tour titles and was named the ATP Most Promising Player for 2016. Dubai fans will remember his great win in the quarter-finals in Dubai last year when he defeated Evgeny Donskoy, who had sensationally felled Roger Federer in the second round. Pouille’s run ended in the semi-finals, going down to eventual champion Andy Murray.
Dzumhur, who also inflicted a shock loss on defending champion Stan Wawrinka in the second round last year will also be challenging for the title. Dzumhur showed that incredible win wasn’t a fluke by winning two titles last year and jumping 58 places in the rankings to 30.
At just 21, Khachanov has already collected his first tour title, and has performed well on the game’s biggest stages, reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros and the third round at Wimbledon. He also made the third round at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Cincinnati and qualified for the ATP Next Gen Finals.
Other challengers for the title include regular competitors in Dubai, Roberto Bautista Agut, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Viktor Troicki, Denis Istomin and Richard Gasquet. Bautista Agut has had a winning start to the year, taking out the ASB Classic in Auckland last week with a win over Juan Martin del Potro, his seventh career title. Tour veteran Gasquet continues to add to his impressive trophy cabinet, having appeared in 28 tour finals, winning 14 titles to date.
The women’s WTA Premier 700 event starts on February 19 with the men’s ATP 500 tournament to follow from February 26. Both offer equal prizemoney for men and women from a combined prize pool of US$5.6 million. Tickets start from Dh55 for opening rounds to Dh735 for the ATP finals. Online sales started on Thursday, January 18, followed by the Box Office, which opens on January 25. For tickets go to http://www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com/en/tickets or visit www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com for more information.
