Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev secured his first Mubadala World Tennis Championship title with a straight-set victory over Andy Murray last year. Image Credit: Supplied

Abu Dhabi: Andrey Rublev will return to Abu Dhabi in December to defend his Mubadala World Tennis Championship title, organisers have confirmed. He is the latest star name to join the six-player male line-up that also includes Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud, with three further big-name players to be unveiled soon.

The 24-year-old Russian, who has reached a career-high ranking of World No 5, secured his first Mubadala World Tennis Championship title with a straight-set victory over Andy Murray at the International Tennis Centre in Zayed Sports City last December.

Rublev has 11 ATP Tour singles titles and three doubles titles to his credit so far. He won the mixed doubles gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics alongside compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and has reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam five times, including at this year’s French and US Opens.

Memorable event

“Last year’s event was memorable, because of the top-class tennis on display. Andrey was a worthy winner so it’s great that we have secured his return alongside the next generation of superstars Carlos, Casper, Ons [Jabeur] and Emma [Raducanu],” said John Lickrish, CEO, Flash Entertainment.

Celebrating its 14th edition this year, the Mubadala World Tennis Championship runs from December 16-18 at the International Tennis Centre at Zayed Sports City.