Murray gets wild card, joins eight of world’s top 20 for Dubai Open

The former world No 1 won the Dubai title in 2017 and was the runner-up in 2012

Britain’s Andy Murray in action during his second round match at the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships Image Credit: AI/Reuters/Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

February 7, 2023

Three-time Grand Slam winner and former world No 1 Andy Murray has received a wild card entry for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships later this month.

This will be the second year in a row that Murray will play the ATP 500 Series event as a wild card. The Brit, currently ranked No 61 in the world, won the Dubai title in 2017 and was the runner-up in 2012.

The tournament, which runs from February 26 to March 4, features eight of the top 20 players in the world, including reigning Australian Open champion and world No1 Novak Djokovic, a five-time champion in Dubai, defending champion Andrey Rublev, 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, Olympic gold medallist Alexander Zverev, and world No 7 Felix Auger-Aliassime.

“My form is improving and my game is getting better..” – Murray

“Coming back to Dubai brings with it a lot of good memories, not least 2017 and the final with Fernando,” Murray said in a statement released. “My form is improving and my game is getting better, so the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships provides another great opportunity for me to continue to climb back up the rankings.”

The 35-year-old Murray was the story of the first week at last month’s Australian Open as he reached the third round in Melbourne after back-to-back five set wins over 14th ranked Matteo Berrettini and local favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis before going down to Roberta Baustista Agut in four sets.

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