Dubai: Two of the most exciting young players on the ATP World Tour will be vying for the Dubai Duty Free (DDF) Tennis Championships title when play gets underway later this month, with both Lucas Pouille and Karen Khachanov ready to make their mark and continue their climb up the rankings.
Frenchman, Pouille, 23, already signalled intent here last year when he reached the semis before losing to eventual champion Andy Murray. Having received the Most Improved Player Award in 2016, he went on to enjoy a successful season, becoming the only player to win titles on three surfaces last year.
The highlight of those three wins was in Vienna where he beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the biggest title of his career. The other victories were in Budapest and Stuttgart and he reached the final in Marseille and the semis in Monte Carlo. He also held two match points over World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the first round in Beijing, but his most memorable experience was his win over Belgium’s Steve Darcis that clinched a 3-2 victory for France in the Davis Cup final.
Russia’s Khachanov, 21, has yet to match Pouille in establishing inside the World’s Top-20, but he did hit milestones last season, advancing to Grand Slam third and fourth rounds for the first time at the French Open, where he beat two-time Dubai finalist Tomas Berdych and John Isner before losing to Murray in the fourth round. He also reached the third round at Wimbledon, where he earned his first five-set win over Andrey Kuznetsov before losing to Rafael Nadal.
Other notable performances saw him claim his first win over a top-10 opponent, David Goffin in Barcelona, and just before Wimbledon, he enjoyed the biggest win of his career on his way to reaching the semis in Halle, beating World No. 9 Kei Nishikori, before losing to Roger Federer. That earned him a place in the inaugural Next Gen Finals in Milan.
He’s been equally as impressive this season, with a run to the quarters in Auckland before reaching the third round at the Australian Open where he took a set from 12th seed and 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.
Pouille and Khachanov will be just two of the attractions in a fortnight of tennis at the DDF Tennis Stadium in Garhoud. First the WTA women’s event takes place from February 19 to 24, involving; Wimbledon winner Garbine Muguruza, defending Dubai champion and recent Brisbane winner Elina Svitolina, five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, 2017 US Open runner-up and 2018 Australian Open quarter-finalist Madison Keys, nine-time singles champion and 2016 US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova and former world number one, 2018 Sydney champion and Australian Open semi-finalist Angelique Kerber.
The tournament then continues with the ATP men’s event from February 26 to March 3, including World No. 4 and ATP World Tour Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov.
Tickets are available online or through the Box Office, which is open from 9am to 9pm daily, and range from Dh55 in WTA opening rounds to Dh735 for ATP finals.
Visit http://www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com/en/tickets for more details.
