{"id":68133,"date":"2026-02-03T08:19:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/?p=68133"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:19:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:19:02","slug":"australian-open-winner-rybakina-to-lead-elite-field-at-dubai-duty-free-tennis-championships-homecoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/australian-open-winner-rybakina-to-lead-elite-field-at-dubai-duty-free-tennis-championships-homecoming\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open Winner Rybakina To Lead Elite Field At Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Homecoming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresh off the heat and glare of Melbourne, the story of this year\u2019s Australian Open will roll straight fromthe Rod Laver Arena into Dubai. Elena Rybakina, this weekend\u2019s Grand Slam winner having dethroned defending championAryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday, willreturnto the Dubai<\/a> Duty Free Tennis Championships on 15 February to compete in a tournament that is increasingly special to the Russian.<\/p>\n

After adding a second Grand Slam win to her 2022 Wimbledon title, Rybakina, the new World No3, returns to Dubai not only as a former finalist but as a residentof the city since 2024. As such, her presence would be compelling on its own yet this year, the narrative runs deeper.<\/p>\n

In a cute convergence, all eight Australian Open quarterfinalists are confirmed to compete in Dubai, bringing with them the rivalries, storylines, and form that defined the season\u2019s first major. The \u201cDown Under\u201d drama that captivated the tennis world over the past two weeks will be back on court within a fortnight\u2013 this time at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, transforming the emirate\u2019s26th<\/sup> WTA event into a true showcase of the women\u2019s game at its highest level.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations to Elena, who we are delighted is returning to Dubai this month,\u201d saidRamesh Cidambi,<\/strong>Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free and Chairman of the Organising Committee<\/strong>.\u201cThe participation of the entire top 20 so soon after Melbourne gives fans a chance to see the sport\u2019s biggest names together in one place. For the players, we provideanother proving ground and an immediate chance to test themselves on a hard court against the very best once again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rybakina\u2019s title runin Australia showcased her complete arsenal:Thunderous serving, flat baseline power, and icy composure when the stakes were highest. Leaving Australia having matched her career-high ranking of World No3, the 26-year-old arrives back to her \u201csecond home\u201d as one of the most talked-about figures on Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to send huge congratulations to Elena on behalf of everyone at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships,\u201d said Salah Tahlak,Tournament Director <\/strong>and Deputy Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free<\/strong>.\u201cShe has competed at our tournament in Dubai five times in the past six years, reaching the final on her debut in 2020 and progressing to the semi-finals last year. As a Dubai resident, she always enjoys a lot of \u2018home\u2019 support here and I\u2019m sure that will only grow after this past weekend\u2019s fantastic victory. We look forward to welcoming her back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The depth of this year\u2019s Championships is underlined by the presence of all eightquarterfinalists, including World No1 Sabalenka, six-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swi\u0105tek, World No4 Amanda Anisimova, American pair Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula \u2013 ranked No5 and No6 in the world respectively, two-time Dubai champion Elina Svitolina, and 18-year-old starlet Iva Jovic.<\/p>\n

With defending champion Mirra Andreeva adding a compelling storyline of her own and elite challengers such as 2024 winner Jasmine Paolini, Canadian breakout Victoria Mboko, and 2019 winner Belinda Bencic all deepeningthe draw, fans can expect high-calibre contests throughout WTA week, which runs from February 15\u201321, followed by the ATP 500 men\u2019s tournament from February 23\u201328. Tickets are on sale now, with prices starting from Dh65 at dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com or ticketmaster.ae.<\/p>\n

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fresh off the heat and glare of Melbourne, the story of this year\u2019s Australian Open will roll straight fromthe Rod Laver Arena into Dubai. Elena Rybakina, this weekend\u2019s Grand Slam winner having dethroned defending championAryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday, willreturnto the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on 15 February to compete in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68135,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68133\/revisions\/68135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}