Dubai [UAE], February 24: Tennis fans across Dubai are poised for a feast of world-class quality, drama and intrigue in coming days after the Official Draw for next week's ATP500 tournament at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships confirmed a slew of eye-catching first round matches.
With five former champions and three beaten finalists among the 32-man field, Canadian top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who fell to Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in last year's final, will start his 2026 campaign against China's Zhizhen Zhang.
At the other end of the draw, second seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan will have to wait slightly longer to discover his opponent after drawing a qualifier. Britain's Jack Draper, the fourth seed, and Karen Khachanov, the seventh seed, will also play qualifiers in round one.
Prompting a chorus of gasps and other audible interjections from an audience comprising tournament officials, partners and global media, the reveal that unseeded former champions Ugo Humbert and Stefanos Tsitsipas - Dubai winners in 2024 and 2025, respectively - will go head-to-head on Monday also excited the ATP players in attendance, Benjamin Hassan and Arther Rinderknech, who shared raised eyebrows and nods of anticipation.
German-born but representing Lebanon, Hassan, the World No287, will face Stan Wawrinka - the champion in Dubai a decade ago - as the legendary Swiss embarks on his final ATP season.
"It's a tough one - he's a Grand Slam champion so I have nothing to lose," said Hassan, who entered the sport's history at the 2024 Paris Olympics as the first singles tennis player representing Lebanon. Hassan also made his Grand Slam main draw debut at last year's French Open, becoming the first Lebanese player to qualify for Roland Garros in the Open Era.
"I'm going to play freely," added the 31-year-old. "He's the older generation in his last season, but I know he can still play, and move, very well. On top of that, he has the experience and knows what he's doing, so I'll need to fight and find ways to keep up with him. The biggest thing is probably the motivational part, that I have fun playing him, that I want to win, give it my all, and fight until I die."
Other mouthwatering Round of 32 matches include third seed Daniil Medvedev, the 2023 winner, facing China's Juncheng Shang; fifth seed and 2022 champion Andrey Rublev against France's Valentin Royer; sixth seed and World No16 Jakub Mensik versus Poland's Hubert Hurkacz; eighth seed Jiri Lehecka facing France's Arthur Fils; and Rinderknech - fresh from reaching his first ATP Masters final last season - against Hungary's Fabian Marozsan.
The Official Draw event was led by ATP Supervisor Ahmed Abdel-Azim, who was joined by Ramesh Cidambi, Managing Director, Dubai Duty Free and Chair of the Tournament Organising Committee; Salah Tahlak, Deputy Managing Director, Dubai Duty Free, and Tournament Director of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships; His Excellency Saeed Almarri, Secretary General of the UAE Tennis & Padel Federation; Sinead El Sibai, Senior Vice President - Marketing Dubai Duty Free; and the tournament's famous silver dhow trophy.
"After an amazingly successful WTA1000 week where we saw a 44 per cent year-on-year increase at the Box Office, and 48% year-on-year jump in overall ticket sales, we look forward to carrying that momentum into ATP week," said Cidambi. "This the longest sporting event in Dubai and we're thrilled that the response to our enhanced facilities - including the New Court 1 and expanded Fan Village - have been so universally positive. Best of luck to all the players this week."
Tahlak announced the three wildcards during the draw, with Hassan and Wawrinka joined by Tunisia's Moez Echargui, the World No139. With Hassan and Echargui in the field, Tahlak noted his hopes that the pair serve as "inspiration to kids across the Arab world."
The 34th edition of the annual ATP event, which takes place from February 23 to 28, features eight of the world's top ranked male players, including five former winners.
Source: Emirates News Agency
