Dubai Tennis Championships: Start date, past winners, history & more

One of the highlights of the post-Australian Open tennis schedule comes from Dubai, which has staged the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships since 1993.

Originally an ATP-only event, the tournament expanded to include a WTA event from 2001 onwards, with the two competitions now staged back-to-back in the final weeks of February.

A host of star names have won the men's title including Roger Federer, who has claimed the Dubai Tennis Championships on eight occasions, while Justine Henin is the most successful women's competitor with four victories.

Dubai Tennis Championships Dates

The 2025 Dubai Tennis Championships start with the WTA tournament, which begins on Sunday 16th February and concludes with the final on Saturday 22nd February.

The men's tournament will then begin on Monday 24th February with the final pencilled in for Saturday 1st March.

Dubai Tennis Championships Venue

The Dubai Tennis Championships first took place at the Aviation Club in 1993 and the event has remained at the venue since its inception.

However, the first three tournaments were staged in front of temporarily constructed stands with capacity for just 3,000 spectators across all the courts.

The Dubai Tennis Stadium, with a capacity for 5,000 people, opened at the Aviation Club in 1996 and the on-site infrastructure has improved as the event has increased in prestige.

In addition to the Centre Court, there are three additional courts in operation throughout the tournament.

Dubai Tennis Championships History

The Dubai Tennis Championships began as an ATP World Tour 250-level event and the first edition of the tournament took place in 1993, with the title going to Czech Karel Novacek, who beat Fabrice Santoro 6-4 7-5 in the final.

The men's tournament was upgraded to 500 Series level in 2001, when Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated Marat Safin in the final, and a WTA Tour Premier-level tournament was added the same year.

The WTA event has remained on the schedule and is currently a 1000 Series tournament.

Dubai Tennis Championships Past Winners

The inaugural ATP Dubai Tennis Championships went the way of Karel Novacek, who won the second of his two ATP Tour hard-court titles when he beat Fabrice Santoro in the 1993 final.

Goran Ivanisevic added his name to the roll of honour in 1996 with a 6-4 6-3 win over Albert Costa and two-time French Open finalist Alex Corretja was another high-profile champion in the early days of the tournament.

Juan Carlos Ferrero won the first men's tournament to be upgraded to 500 Series status in 2001 and Roger Federer claimed the first of his eight Dubai titles in 2003 when he dismissed Jiri Novak 6-1 7-6.

The Swiss superstar would go on to win the men's title in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2014 and 2015 before claiming a final victory in the UAE in 2019, seeing off Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.

Big names have dominated the men's event over the last two decades. Rafael Nadal saw off Federer in the 2006 final while Novak Djokovic has won five titles, the most recent of which came in 2020.

Frenchman Ugo Humbert caused a shock when he won the 2024 event, beating Alexander Bublik in the final.

The women's tournament began in 2001 with Martina Hingis taking home the title at the expense of Nathalie Tauziat.

Amelie Mauresmo, Lindsay Davenport and Elena Dementieva all won between 2002 and 2008 but that period was dominated by Belgium's Justine Henin, who claimed four titles between 2003 and 2007.

Venus Williams won the Dubai title in 2009, 2010 and 2014 while Grand Slam champions Simona Halep (2020), Garbine Muguruza (2021), Jelena Ostapenko (2022) and Barbora Krejcikova (2023) have all been victorious in more recent editions.

Jasmine Paolini is the most recent WTA winner, claiming a 4-6 7-5 7-5 victory over Anna Kalinskaya in a pulsating final last season.