{"id":68438,"date":"2026-02-19T13:27:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/?p=68438"},"modified":"2026-02-19T13:27:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:27:50","slug":"defending-dubai-duty-free-tennis-champion-mirra-andreeva-embraces-emirati-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/defending-dubai-duty-free-tennis-champion-mirra-andreeva-embraces-emirati-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Defending Dubai Duty Free Tennis Champion Mirra Andreeva Embraces Emirati Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Returning to Dubai<\/a> as defending champion, Mirra Andreeva took time away from competition at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to learn more about Emirati culture, experiencing a traditionalabaya<\/em> and Arab-style jewellery for the first time.<\/p>\n

Andreeva made history in Dubai last year by becoming the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 title since the format\u2019s inception. Returning with a more prominent presence, she embraced the opportunity to learn more about the country in which she made history. Tomorrow, she will face American Amanda Anisimova in the quarterfinals on Centre Courtin the afternoon.<\/p>\n

The off-court moment highlighted how international sporting events in Dubai bring cultures together, offering visiting athletes a deeper connection to the destination beyond tennis.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s always super special to try new cultures and to learn about new cultures as well,\u201d Andreeva said. \u201cI\u2019m so happy that I\u2019m the one trying all of these outfits, dresses, and jewellery. For me, it\u2019s a surreal experience, and I\u2019m just super happy to be trying this now.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the experience, Andreeva learned more about the craftsmanship behind Emirati attire, including the time and care involved in producing each individual piece.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey chose two colours for the dress, and I asked which one would look better on me,\u201d she explained. \u201cThey said that green would look better, so I stuck with what they chose for me. I also learned that this is usually handmade, so for me it\u2019s something crazy that they spend so much time making these dresses. I\u2019m a little bit in shock at how beautiful it looks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although she had seen traditional Emirati attire worn widely across the UAE<\/a>, this marked Andreeva\u2019s first opportunity to try an abaya <\/em>herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I\u2019ve seen a lot of women wear this kind of jewellery and dresses, but I\u2019ve never had a chance to try it on myself,\u201d she added. \u201cI like that it\u2019s pretty different from what I usually wear, but at the same time it\u2019s so, so beautiful. I just love every single piece of what I\u2019m wearing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mirra Andreeva\u2019s traditional attire experience was curated in collaboration with The Alley Line, a Dubai-based fashion brand celebrating authentic Emirati heritage through handcrafted traditional designs.<\/p>\n

The WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships runs from 15\u201321 February at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium and features 16 of the world\u2019s top 20 and 35 of the world\u2019s top 40. It is followed by the ATP 500 men\u2019s event from 23\u201328 February.<\/p>\n

Tickets are on sale now, with prices starting from Dh65. For full details, visit ticketmaster.ae<\/a> or dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Returning to Dubai as defending champion, Mirra Andreeva took time away from competition at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to learn more about Emirati culture, experiencing a traditionalabaya and Arab-style jewellery for the first time. Andreeva made history in Dubai last year by becoming the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 title since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68439,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68438","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\/68438","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=68438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68440,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68438\/revisions\/68440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}