Andrey Rublev will return to defend his Mubadala World Tennis Championship title after the Russian was confirmed as the third male player for the Abu Dhabi tournament.
Following the announcements this week that world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz and world No 3 Casper Ruud would make their MWTC debuts, Rublev will compete in the event for a fourth time and third year in a row having made his first appearance in 2017.
The 2022 tournament, which takes place December 16-18 at Zayed Sports City's International Tennis Centre, will also see world No 2 Ons Jabeur and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu participate in the one-off women's match.
Rublev, the world No 9, won the 2021 title by beating three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6 in the final.
“Last year’s event was memorable, firstly to see the return of the championship after the rebound of live events and, secondly, because of the top-class tennis on display," said John Lickrish, CEO, Flash Entertainment, the tournament's owner.
"Andrey was a worthy winner so it’s great that we have secured his return alongside the next generation of superstars Carlos, Casper, Ons and Emma. The 14th edition is shaping up to be a very exciting three days of action on and off the court."
Rublev, 24, is enjoying another successful season so far having won three ATP Tour titles, including back-to-back at the Marseille Open and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in successive weeks. His other title came at the Belgrade Open, where he defeated Novak Djokovic in the final.
Rublev has collected 11 ATP Tour singles titles and three doubles titles, and won mixed doubles gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics alongside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. He has also reached five Grand Slam quarter-finals, including twice this year, at Roland Garros and the US Open.
The 14th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship will adopt its familiar six-player format, hosting the two quarter-final matches and the women's match on Day 1. The second day will see the top two seeds enter the tournament in the semi-finals, where they face the winners from the opening day, while the two quarter-final losers will contest the fifth-place playoff.
The third and final day will host the third-place playoff before the final.
Tickets start from Dh95 for adults and Dh45 for children on Day 1, Dh195 and Dh95 on Day 2, and Dh295 and Dh195 for Day 3.
Organisers have scheduled the Day 3 matches to take place earlier than usual to ensure fans are able to watch the 2022 World Cup final, which is scheduled to take place at 7pm UAE time.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
