Dubai: With a line-up including seven of the world’s top 10 female players, excitement is building for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which gets underway in just over a week’s time at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Garhoud.
One of the best fields to be seen outside of a Grand Slam will be in action from February 19-24 during the WTA event, and for only Dh55 per day for the first three days, fans will see a line-up which boasts five former World No. 1s and four players who between them have won 11 Grand Slams.
The stellar line-up of former World No. 1s includes reigning Wimbledon champion and former French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, Australian Open runner-up Simona Halep, 2018 Sydney champion and two-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber and 2016 US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova.
Also in the line-up is defending Dubai champion, recent Brisbane winner and World No. 3 Elina Svitolina, two-time Wimbledon champion and former Dubai champion Petra Kvitova, top 10 players Caroline Garcia and Julia Goerges, 2017 US Open runner-up Madison Keys, recent St Petersburg finalist Kristina Mladenovic and Australian No. 1 and 2018 Sydney runner-up Ashleigh Barty.
Tennis fans are expected to flock to the stadium to witness matches, as well as enjoying a packed social programme. The Tennis Village boasts a fortnight of entertainment, music and autograph signings, with the big screens showing all the action live, and a host of other events and activities including Kids’ Days, Ladies’ Night, Men’s Night and plenty of competitions for fans to win those sought after finals tickets.
The tournament continues with the men’s ATP event from February 26 to March 3, headlined by World No. 4 and ATP World Tour Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov, along with rising stars Lucas Pouille, Karen Khatchanov and Damir Dzumhur facing the experienced Roberto Bautista Agut, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Richard Gasquet.
Tickets ranging from Dh55 for opening WTA matches to Dh735 for the ATP finals are available online at www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships and are also available from the box office, which is open 9am to 9pm daily.
The line-up
Some of the big names coming to Dubai
Garbine Muguruza
Maria Sharapova
Simona Halep,
Angelique Kerber
Karolina Pliskova
Elina Svitolina
Petra Kvitova
Caroline Garcia
Julia Goerges
Madison Keys
Kristina Mladenovic
Ashleigh Barty
