Defending champion Elina Svitolina made one lucky person a millionaire on Tuesday when she conducted the draw in Series 264 of Dubai Duty Free’s Millennium Millionaire promotion.
The top seed in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships visited Concourse A of the Dubai International airport, and joined Dubai Duty Free senior officials Colm McLoughlin, executive vice chairman and CEO; Ramesh Cidambi, chief operating officer; and Sinead Al Sibai, senior vice president–marketing at the draw.
Following the draw, world number four Svitolina had another look at the trophy she hopes to retain this week, before selecting gifts for her mother and brother from the gift shops and checking out the Chanel handbags and Ulysse Nardin watches.
“It was a very special event for me last year. I was under pressure in the final because I was reaching the top ten for the first time. It was a massive deal for me winning here, it gave me lots of confidence to push for the rest of the season,” said the 23-year-old, who began her quest to defend her title on Wednesday.
“I always like to come back to play in Dubai, the shopping here is amazing, the weather is nice, the Centre Court atmosphere is great, the conditions are perfect. It’s nice to be defending champion because it brings you confidence, I just try to stay focused on what I have to do when I go on court. I’m looking forward to my first match.”
Svitolina plays Wang Qiang on Centre Court on Wednesday in the third match of the afternoon session.
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Don’t miss it!
Grandstand ticket prices for the WTA event start at Dh55 for opening rounds, to Dh735 for the ATP finals. Tickets are on sale at the box office, which is open from 9am to 9pm daily, and online on dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com.
