The 2016 edition of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – the ATP event held one week after the women’s tournament held in the same location – is the main tune-up for the upcoming Indian Wells Masters tournament in California. This is the time of year after the Australian Open when hardcourt players can pocket a lot of money and rankings points. Remember that this tournament is played on a hard court surface, so if you’re looking at betting someone here, you’ll want to find players that are big hitters. Those with big serves and a big ground game from the baseline are the ones who tend to thrive here. However, players that are rely on their speed and defense more are better-suited for the clay surface, so you’d rather avoid betting them in this spot.
On that note, which players are going to make the most of the opportunity in Dubai? The competition in the 32-player main draw began on Monday, February 22.
Event Details
Event: Dubai Tennis Championships
Category: ATP World Tour – 500 Series
Date: February 22 – February 27, 2016
Location: Aviation Club (Dubai Tennis Stadium) – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
With a prize money allotment of $2,674,445, the 500-point tournament offers good bang for the buck in terms of the wallet. It also provides significant value in the race for rankings spots heading into Indian Wells. The Indian Wells and Miami tournaments have 96 spots, so players ranked in the bottom half of the top 100 have a chance to move up the rankings list, get a much better position for Indian Wells, and springboard toward more points and prize earnings in this early part of the season, before the move to clay in April.
The points structure under the ATP system is that the championship means 500 points. A runner-up finish is worth 300. A semifinal result is 180 points, and a quarterfinal appearance offers 90 points. A round-of-16 results provides 45 points.
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2015 – Roger Federer def. Novak Djokovic – 6-3, 7-5
2014 – Roger Federer def. Tomas Berdych – 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
2013 – Novak Djokovic def. Tomas Berdych – 7-5, 6-3
2012 – Roger Federer def. Andy Murray – 7-5, 6-4
2011 – Novak Djokovic def. Roger Federer – 6-3, 6-3
Player Info:
It’s a very good field, with some of the top players such as Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, and Tomas Berdych in the tournament, as well as Nick Kyrgios, Feliciano Lopez, Borna Coric, and a mixture of other notables young and old. However, three prime players will not be here. Andy Murray is preparing for his defense of Davis Cup while also spending time with his newborn child, so he’ll miss this event. He’s usually one of the best players on the tour on the hard surface, so that will make things easier on the rest of the pack. Rafael Nadal chose to play South American clay tournaments to warm up for Indian Wells, so he’ll be absent too. Roger Federer is the two-time defending champion of this event, but an injury suffered at the end of the Australian Open brought about knee surgery which caused him to drop out. Djokovic and Wawrinka are the clear favorites in the tournament as a result, Djokovic much more than Wawrinka.
Delray Beach Tennis Center
The Delray Beach Tennis Center features an 8,200-seat stadium court for the featured matches in the tournament. There are five other hard courts in the facility, which also has 14 clay courts used for recreation and for USTA development programs which want to get American tennis players to become more proficient on clay. That surface has been historically weak for American players over the years.
The Delray Beach Tennis Center opened its doors in 1992. It has hosted Fed Cup and Davis Cup matches, making it a prominent tennis facility in the United States, something of a magnet for people in all circumstances – on vacation, intending to train, and those wanting to watch professional tennis in different circumstances. The ATP Delray Beach Tour stop is unique compared to most of the other tour events in that it holds an ATP Tour event and a Champions Tour event (with legends over 35 who have retired as main-draw participants).
