Andy Murray grabs wildcard to compete at this month’s DDF Tennis Championships

Dubai: British legend Andy Murray has confirmed his participation at this month’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, accepting a second consecutive wildcard from organisers and adding yet more quality to a men’s field that already features eight of the world’s top 20 male players. The annual two-week tennis extravaganza, which starts with the annual WTA event, is scheduled to run from February 19 to March 4.

While capturing three Grand Slam times is a huge part of Murray’s successful tennis career, the Scot reached World No 1 in 2016 and made history at that year’s Olympic Games when he became the only player to win back-to-back gold medals in tennis singles. A two-time finalist in Dubai, Murray defeated Fernando Verdasco in 2017 to lift the trophy, before a series of injuries saw him slip down the world rankings.

Murray, who at the 2012 US Open became the first British male in 77 years to win a Grand Slam, accepted a wildcard to return to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium last year. Making his first appearance at the ATP 500 event since his triumph five years earlier, he reached the Round of 16 and will be looking to improve on that this time around after some encouraging performances at last month’s Australian Open.

Good memories

“Coming back to Dubai brings with it a lot of good memories, not least 2017 and the final with Fernando,” said two-time Wimbledon champion Murray, who also reached the final in Dubai in 2012. “My form is improving and my game is getting better, so the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships provides another great opportunity for me to continue to climb back up the rankings.”

Murray joins a stellar field that includes new world No 1 Novak Djokovic, who is chasing a sixth Dubai title, last year’s champion Andrey Rublev, 2021 US Open winner Daniil Medvedev, Olympic gold medallist Alexander Zverev, and world No 7 Felix Auger-Aliassime, among others.

Passionate support base

“We are delighted to welcome Andy back to Dubai,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice-Chairman & CEO of Dubai Duty Free. “Everybody knows how important a figure he is in British tennis and, as we have seen in the seven previous times he has competed at our event, he always attracts a strong and passionate support base. He accepted our wildcard last year and was a credit to the tournament and we are very happy he has accepted our invite once again.”

Elsewhere, organisers confirmed the women’s tournament, which runs from February 19 to 25, will feature all 10 of the world’s top 10 female players.

Tickets on sale

Tickets for the 31st edition of the championships and the 23rd staging of the WTA events, to be held from February 19-25, are on sale now at dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com, starting from Dh55. They will also be available at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium Box Office from February 9 and will open at 8am and thereafter from 9am and 9pm. Tournament organisers have urged fans to secure their seats through the official platforms.