The Dubai Tennis Championships (officially the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships) is a joint professional tennis event played on outdoor hard courts at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai.
It features:
- a WTA 1000 women’s tournament (February 15–21 2026)
- an ATP 500 men’s tournament (February 23–28 2026) and attracts many of the sport’s top players each year.
🎾 WOMEN’S SINGLES
Jessica Pegula the No. 4 seed, delivered a commanding performance in the championship match, controlling rallies with depth and variety to defeat – defeated Elina Svitolina, 6-2, 6-4 in the final to claim the title. It marked Pegula’s 10th career singles title and her fourth WTA 1000 victory. At age 31, she became one of the older champions in Dubai’s history, joining an elite group including Venus Williams. In the semifinals, Pegula came back from a set and break down to defeat Amanda Anisimova.
Elina Svitolina, a two-time former Dubai champion, reached the final by defeating Coco Gauff in a grueling three-set semifinal featuring one of the longest tiebreaks of the season.
The tournament featured several top seeds including Amanda Anisimova, Coco Gauff, and Elena Rybakina, but also saw notable early exits and physical retirements due to the busy tour schedule. The 2026 Dubai event drew attention not just for tennis but for discussion around the wider WTA calendar: there were a significant number of player withdrawals before and during the tournament, illustrating ongoing concerns about player workload and scheduling, prompting talks about potential reforms to the season structure.
🎾 WOMEN’S DOUBLES
While the singles draw took most of the attention, the women’s doubles event concluded with:
Champions: Gabriela Dabrowski / Luisa Stefani – who captured the doubles title with a strong performance through the draw.
🎾 MEN’S SINGLES
This event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series – a mid-high tier on the men’s professional circuit – and attracts many top-ranked players each season.
Top players expected or entered in the 2026 men’s draw included:
- Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) – seeded No. 1
- Alexander Bublik (KAZ)
- Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
- Jack Draper (GBR) (returning from injury)
- Andrey Rublev (RUS)
- Karen Khachanov (RUS)
- Jiří Lehečka (CZE)
- Jakub Menšík (CZE)
- and defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) — who won in 2025 and aimed to defend his title.
The tournament represents a key early hard-court event in the ATP calendar as players build momentum before the spring “Sunshine Double” and other Masters 1000 tournaments.