DUBAI: Daniil Medv­edev was awarded the Dubai Tennis Cham­pio­nships title after his opponent Tallon Grie­kspoor withdrew due to an injury he suffered in the semi-finals, tournament organisers said on Saturday.

Russian Medvedev was chasing a second title in Dubai after he beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last four, and the former world number one reached the final without dropping a set.

Griekspoor said after his straight-sets win over Andrey Rublev that he was struggling with a hamstring injury and would have retired had he lost the second set.

“Of course unfortunate, but Tallon, I could see yesterday that maybe he had an injury. You never know how these injuries develop through the night.

Sometimes they get easier and you can play, like with some soreness. Sometimes they get worse, so I guess it got worse,” said Medvedev in audio quotes provided by the ATP.

“I cannot do anything about it, I played a great tournament, the four matches I played. Of course I wanted to play the final, but it is what it is. I played an unbelievable match yesterday, so I would, either way, take it as a final for me and I’m happy to win.”

This is the first time Medvedev has been able to repeat a title. The 30-year-old Russian had won 22 trophies in 22 different events.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2026