The ATP Dubai Tennis Championships 2026 opens on February 23 with the round of 32 at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai, UAE. Top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev headline the action on outdoor hard courts. Other seeded players, including Jack Draper, face qualifiers and wildcards in best-of-three-set matches.
The tournament marks the return of several top players to competitive action early in the 2026 season. Felix Auger-Aliassime, ranked No. 7, begins against Zhizhen Zhang, ranked No. 319 on protected ranking. Auger-Aliassime recently won the title in Montpellier and reached the final in Rotterdam, following a retirement at the Australian Open due to cramping. He and Zhang are tied 1-1 in their head-to-head record.
Daniil Medvedev, ranked No. 11 with an 8-2 record this year after winning Brisbane, faces Juncheng Shang, ranked No. 261. Medvedev defeated Shang in straight sets at the Qatar Open last week, marking their only prior meeting. Shang reached the quarterfinals in Hong Kong earlier this season but has struggled in Melbourne and Doha.
Jack Draper, the No. 4 seed at No. 12, plays his first match of 2026 against Quentin Halys, ranked No. 72, after missing time due to a left arm injury that sidelined him late in 2025. Draper has no ATP main draw history with Halys but won two prior Challenger qualifier matches against him in 2022. Halys has recorded second-round exits in recent events including Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Rotterdam, and Doha.
Stan Wawrinka, ranked No. 98 as a wildcard, meets Benjamin Hassan, No. 287 also on wildcard entry. Wawrinka, who has announced 2026 as his final professional season, comes off early exits in Melbourne, Montpellier, and Rotterdam. Hassan primarily competes at Challenger level with limited ATP experience. The winner of Wawrinka-Hassan faces the victor of Medvedev-Shang.
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