Daniil Medvedev of Moscow, Russia has won the 2026 Dubai Tennis Championship. However, he did not need to participate in the championship game on Saturday to win the title. That is because his opponent, Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, withdrew from the match because of a hamstring injury. Griekspoor suffered the ailment in his 7-5, 7-6 win over Andrey Rublev of Russia in the semifinals according to Sead Dedovic of Tennis World.
Medvedev beat two notable opponents on his way to qualifying for the finals. He beat Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka (who is retiring at the end of the year), 6-2, 6-3 in the second round on Wednesday, and Dubai’s number one seed, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, 6-4, 6-2 in Friday’s semifinals. All-time, Medvedev is now 4-2 all-time against Wawrinka, and 8-2 against Auger-Aliassime.
This is Medvedev’s 23rd ATP title. Of his 23 titles, is one major championship. Medvedev won the 2021 United States Open where he beat Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Medvedev has now won two Dubai Tennis Championships. The first came in 2023, as he beat Rublev in the final, 6-2, 6-2.
With the win, Rublev remains in 11th place in the ATP World rankings. It was not a deep field in Dubai, as most players in the top 10 world rankings were getting ready for Indian Wells, which starts on Wednesday.
As for Indian Wells, it is now going to be a challenge for Medvedev to get to the United States for the first ATP 1000 tournament of the year. That is because flights from Dubai have been cancelled due to the United States attack of Iran.
