Australian Open champions heading to Dubai

Dubai: With organisers of this month’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships having now confirmed the official entry lists for both its men’s and women’s tournaments, the level of competition coming to the emirate could hardly be higher with Novak Djokovic, the new World No 1 and winner of Australian Open men’s singles title, set to be joined by both Iga Swiatek, the world’s top-ranked female, and Aryna Sabalenka, fresh from her maiden Grand Slam win in Melbourne.

The official entry lists shows that while the men’s draw is headed by the indomitable Serb, a remarkable 19 of the top 20 women are now confirmed to compete at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium over the course of the Championships’ two-week tennis extravaganza. The very best of the best are coming to compete from February 19 to March 4.

As well as the reigning Australian Open champion in Sabalenka and the reigning US and French Open champion in Swiatek, Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina is among the women’s field that will compete between February 19-25. Also on the official entry list is Arab icon Ons Jabeur, a two-time Grand Slam finalist in 2022, and Coco Gauff, the 2022 French Open finalist.

The field for the ATP Tour 500 event meanwhile includes 22-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic, as well as last year’s Dubai winner and World No.5 Andrey Rublev, Canadian rising star Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is ranked No.7 in the world, 2021 US Open winner Daniil Medvedev, and 2020 US Open finalist Alexander Zverev.