World No 1 Andy Murray will be back in the UAE next month to headline a stellar line-up at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The tournament, which will take place from February 19 to March 4, marks its 25th anniversary this year, and the reigning Wimbledon, Olympic and World Tour Finals champion will aim to add the DDFTC title to his trophy cabinet.
Joining Murray, who finished third at the recently concluded Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi this month, will be seven-time Dubai champion Roger Federer, world No 4 and defending Dubai champion Stan Wawrinka, and two-time finalist Tomas Berdych.
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The women’s line-up is equally impressive with eight of the top 10 players heading to Dubai. World No 1 and winner of two grand slams in 2016, Angelique Kerber will be joined by 2012 Dubai champion and world No 3 Agnieszka Radwanska, 2015 Dubai champion Simona Halep, 2016 WTA Tour Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova, 2016 US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, 2016 French Open winner Garbine Muguruza, three-time Dubai finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova, and British hopeful Johanna Konta.
Commenting on this year’s event, Colm McLoughlin, executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free, the tournament owners and organisers, said: “Yet again 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.”
Staged at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Garhoud, the action will commence on February 19 with the WTA Premier 5 event, followed on February 27 with the ATP 500 tournament offering a combined prize pool of US$5.2 million (Dh19.1m).
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 www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com/en/tickets.
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