Top men’s field assemble for Dubai Tennis Championships

WDubai: The second week of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships gets under way on Monday and the official draw for the ATP 500 men’s tournament has thrown up a series of intriguing ties, including a mouthwatering match-up between No2 seed Alex de Minaur and big-hitting former US Open champion Marin Čili.

This year’s 32-player field includes four former winners in Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Roberto Bautista Agut, and reigning champion Ugo Humbert, who was present at Saturday’s draw held inside the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.

“I’m super happy to be back here because I have such good memories from last year,” said Humbert, who will go head-to-head with Jiri Lehecka for the first time, before conceding that winning the 2024 Dubai title remains “the biggest moment of my career”.

Top seed Medvedev, ranked No 6 in the world and winner of the 2021 US Open, is making his third consecutive appearance in Dubai and was drawn against Jan-Lennard Struff, who he holds a 7-1 record against. Italian Matteo Berrettini, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2021, is looking to extend his winning run to four matches against Frenchman Gaël Monfils, himself a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist.

Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard, the 21-year-old Frenchman will also make his Dubai debut this week, as well as wildcard Dan Evans, who is making his sixth appearance in the emirate having reached the semi-finals in 2020.

“It’s great to be back,” British-born Dubai resident Evans said. “I’m really looking forward to competing again. I’ve always felt comfortable here and it’s a place where I’ve spent a lot of time. Hopefully, I can use that to my advantage on the court and win some matches.”

Rublev, the tournament’s third seed, is back for a fifth consecutive year and will start his quest for a second Dubai crown against a qualifier, while Bautista Agut faces Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan.

Announcing the event’s three wild card players — Evans is joined by Hady Habib of Lebanon and Tunisia’s Aziz Dougaz — Salah Tahlak, Deputy Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free and Tournament Director of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, added: “Sometimes it’s not easy to pick those names from different nationalities, but as an Arab country, we have these freedoms and respect, and we give them the opportunity to be here.”

Ramesh Cidambi, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free and Chairman of the Tournament Organising Committee, said: “The draw always brings an extra level of excitement to the tournament.

“With some of the best players in the world set to compete, fans can expect high-quality tennis right from the start. We are eager to see how the matchups unfold,” he added.