Unseeded pair Chia-Jung Chuang and Darija Jurak said they have no plans to continue their partnership after combining to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships women's doubles title.
Playing for the first time together this week, Chuang and Jurak defeated No 2 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-4 in the final Saturday evening.
Jurak was without a partner at the start of the week and said she was “lucky” Chuang chose her for the tournament. Lucky, indeed, as the pair looked like they had been playing together for years.
Having faced five match points in their semi-final victory over Sara Errani and Carla Suarez Navarro, Chuang and Jurak faced no such adversity in the final.
See more: The National's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships landing page
Both sides failed to hold serve in the opening four games, but Chuang and Jurak refused to surrender the advantage after breaking for a 3-2 lead before closing out the set.
Chuang and Jurak then broke early in the second set only for Garcia and Mladenovic to level at 4-4. The unseeded pair then broke straight back to give themselves the chance to serve for the championship, which they duly did.
Asked why they she formed such a good partnership so quickly with Chuang, Jurak said: “It is chemistry. She is such a calm person, and that’s what I like. When things are not going well, she keeps it casual.”
Despite their triumph in Dubai, Jurak said she would return to playing with her regular doubles partner, American Nicole Melichar.
“We are sticking to the plan and hope for the best,” Jurak, 31, said. “This week we used our opportunities, but next week in Doha we have our regular partners. We are not going to change because we have a commitment to our partners.”
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Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
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In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
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Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
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UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Mohammed Al Attas
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Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
