After the final was in serious danger of not taking place due to the US and Israeli bombings of Iran and Iran’s response against various targets in that region of the globe, Russian Daniil Medvedev (ranked 11th) won the ATP 500 Dubai title on Saturday, benefiting from the withdrawal of Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (ranked 25th), who was unable to play due to a muscle injury in his left thigh.
Griekspoor’s injury occurred on Friday during his semi-final victory against Andrey Rublev [5-7, 7(8)-6(6)], when he awkwardly landed a serve and, although he managed to finish the match in two sets, he did not recover in time for the decisive match, resulting in a victory by default for Medvedev.
During the trophy presentation ceremony, Tallon Griekspoor lamented what happened. “I’ve been better, that’s for sure.” “Unfortunately, I injured myself during the semi-finals. I went to the hospital this morning and had some tests done which showed something serious. This prevented me from playing tonight and will keep me off the courts for the next few weeks,” he explained.
For Medvedev, this is the 23rd title of his career on the ATP circuit and the second of the 2026 season, after already winning in Brisbane in January. Interestingly, it’s the first time the 30-year-old has won the same tournament twice, repeating his triumph in Dubai in 2023.
“That’s what’s incredible,” commented Medvedev about the unprecedented achievement. “I’d never done it in any city in the world, and the first time I’ve managed it, it’s by default… We knew, before the start of the week, from the way I was training, that I couldn’t miss a ball. We knew it was going to be a great week. It was a great week and I’m looking forward to the next tournaments.”
With this victory, Medvedev is now just 45 points behind the world number 10, Alexander Bublik, in his attempt to return to the Top 10, from which he dropped out last June. The tennis player now has 21 titles on hard courts, equaling Jannik Sinner as the second active player with the most trophies on this surface, behind only Novak Djokovic, who leads with 72.
Meanwhile, Tallon Griekspoor was seeking his fourth and most important title in Dubai, after a week in which he eliminated Top 20 players such as Bublik, Jakub Mensik and Rublev himself. It’s worth remembering that in the only previous encounter between Griekspoor and Medvedev, precisely in Dubai last year, the Dutchman saved four match points on his way to the semi-finals.
