Monday, Jan 09, 2017

Dubai: The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, scheduled to be held from February 19-March 4, plans to celebrate their 25th anniversary in style.

Andy Murray, the newly-knighted world No.1, will be back in Dubai next month to head a stellar line-up for two weeks of tennis extravaganza.

Along with Murray, the perennial crowd favourite and seven-time champion Roger Federer, who missed last year’s event due to injury, will be back

to delight the fans. The line-up of men’s top 10 players will be Dubai defending champion, winner of three grand slams and world No.4 Stan Wawrinka, two-time Dubai finalist Tomas Berdych along with world No.7 Gael Monfils.

The women’s line-up is equally glittering with eight of the top 10 players heading to Dubai to contest the coveted title. Led by world No.1 and winner of two grand slams in 2016, Angelique Kerber, the line-up includes 2012 Dubai champion and world number three Agnieszka Radwanska, 2015 Dubai champion and world No.4 Simona Halep, 2016 WTA Tour Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova, 2016 US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, 2016 French Open winner Garbiñe Muguruza, Tour veteran and three time Dubai finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova and British hopeful Johanna Konta.

Commenting on this year’s event, Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, the tournament owners and organizers, said: “The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships has attracted the best players in the world, including Andy Murray, who has had a tremendous year in 2016 which culminated in a knighthood, so congratulations to Andy. We are looking forward to some thrilling matches and some great entertainment as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the tournament. The top line-ups guarantee world class tennis on every day of the event.”

Tournament director Salah Tahlak said: “This is a special year for us as we celebrate this significant milestone of our 25th anniversary. The line-up is fantastic and we look forward to welcoming all the fans for this year’s event and providing some unforgettable action both on and off the court.”

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Garhoud will once again be the venue, with the action commencing on February 19 with the WTA Premier 5 event, to be followed on February 27 with the ATP 500 tournament offering a combined prize pool of US$5.2 million.

The event is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free, and being held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Tickets for the event will go on sale on January 17 from the Box Office at the Dubai Tennis Stadium, Garhoud which opens from 9am to 9pm daily and also online through http://www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com/en/tickets.

Staff Report

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