Medvedev wins Dubai title as Griekspoor withdraws
Daniil Medvedev says it it “not how I wanted to win” the Dubai Tennis Championships title after Tallon Griekspoor withdraws because of injury.
Daniil Medvedev says it it “not how I wanted to win” the Dubai Tennis Championships title after Tallon Griekspoor withdraws because of injury.
Daniil Medvedev claimed the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday after Tallon Griekspoor withdrew ahead of their final due to a left hamstring injury.
Griekspoor sustained the injury during his semi-final victory over Andrey Rublev on Friday. He landed awkwardly after a serve and, although he went on to complete a straight-sets win, he was unable to recover in time for the championship match, resulting in a walkover.
“I have been better, that’s for sure,” Griekspoor said during the trophy ceremony. “Unfortunately, I hurt myself during the semi-finals. I went to the hospital this morning and had a couple of scans, which showed something serious. It kept me from coming on court tonight and will keep me from the court in the coming weeks.”
The title is Medvedev’s 23rd tour-level crown and second of the 2026 season after winning in Brisbane in January. It is also the first time the 30-year-old has won the same event twice, having previously triumphed in Dubai in 2023.
At No. 11 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Medvedev is just 45 points behind No. 10 Alexander Bublik as he bids to return to the Top 10 for the first time since June last year.
“That’s what is crazy about it,” Medvedev said when asked about winning the same event twice for the first time. “I never did it in any city in the world, and the first time I do it, it’s [via] a walkover… We knew before the start of the week, the way I was practising, 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 to come.”
With his 21st tour-level trophy on hard courts, Medvedev tied World No. 2 Jannik Sinner for the second-most on the surface among active players, behind Novak Djokovic (72).
Most hard-court titles (active players)
| Player | Titles |
| 1) Novak Djokovic | 72 |
| T2) Jannik Sinner | 21 |
| T2) Daniil Medvedev | 21 |
| 4) Marin Cilic | 16 |
| 5) Alexander Zverev | 15 |
Griekspoor was seeking the fourth and biggest ATP Tour title of his career in Dubai, where he recorded wins over Top 20 players Bublik, Jakub Mensik and Rublev this week. The Dutchman’s only prior Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Medvedev came in Dubai last year, when he memorably saved four match points en route to the semi-finals.
Medvedev will next compete at the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, where he is a two-time finalist. He owns a 13-3 record in 2026, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]British number three Katie Boulter fails to build on a brilliant start against Jasmine Paolini in the Merida Open quarter-finals.
Gael Monfils and #NextGenATP star Rafael Jodar are among the players who received wild cards into the BNP Paribas Open, the tournament announced Friday.
Monfils, who is playing his final ATP Tour season, holds a 22-15 tournament record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. The 39-year-old made his Indian Wells debut in 2005 and reached the quarter-finals in 2016 and 2019. This will be the 17th time the Frenchman competes in Indian Wells. Last year, he lost in three sets in the third round to Grigor Dimitrov.
Jodar is set to feature in the main draw at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time in Indian Wells. In the past six months, the 19-year-old has won three ATP Challenger titles, which helped him qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. He has also earned three tour-level wins this year, including an upset win over Cameron Norrie in the first round at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco.
Americans Michael Zheng, Martin Damm and Zachary Svajda each also received a wild card into the main draw. Zheng will compete in the main draw of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time. The 22-year-old, who posted a 24-7 record and won three titles at the ATP Challenger level in 2025, played in his maiden major main draw at this year’s Australian Open, where he shocked Sebastian Korda in the opening round.
Damm recently enjoyed a dream run at the ATP 250 event in Montpellier, where he upset Hubert Hurkacz and Roberto Bautista Agut en route to advancing to his first tour-level semi-final. California-native Svajda recently won the trophy at the ATP Challenger event in San Diego, where he defeated Korda in the final.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Flavio Cobolli earned a hard-fought win Friday to reach his fourth ATP Tour final at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. The 23-year-old dispatched Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 in a two-hour, 26-minute clash, during which Cobolli trailed 1-3 in the decider before tallying five of the next six games to advance.
Facing two break points at 3-3 in the decider, Cobolli crushed serve plus-one forehand winners on back-to-back points to escape danger. The fifth seed again held his nerve after failing to serve out the match at 5-3, quickly rebounding to earn a 0/40 lead the following game. He converted his second match point and raised his arms in relief.
“We played an incredible match,” said Cobolli. “I’m really happy to be in the final for the first time here in Mexico. I think we both played an amazing match. I was a little bit lucky at the end, because at the crucial points sometimes you need luck. I’m really proud of myself because it wasn’t easy to come back.”
Cobolli is the third Italian to reach three ATP 500 finals since the series began in 2009, joining Jannik Sinner (9) and Fabio Fognini (3). He will next meet an American in the final, either eighth seed Frances Tiafoe or Brandon Nakashima. Should Cobolli win the Acapulco crown, he could surpass his career-high No. 17.
Kecmanovic was aiming to reach his first ATP 500 final. The Belgrade native upset World No. 4 Alexander Zverev in the second round for the best win of his career by PIF ATP Ranking.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Francisco Cerundolo continued his chase for a second title during this season’s ‘Golden Swing’ on Friday at the BCI Seguros Chile Open in Santiago, where he dispatched American Emilio Nava 6-1, 6-1 in just 66 minutes.
The top seed captured the title in Buenos Aires earlier this month and has now won seven of his past eight matches on South American clay, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Cerundolo’s lone defeat came in the second round in Rio de Janeiro. The No. 19 player in the PIF ATP Rankings dominated against Nava, who was the first American to reach the quarter-finals at a tour-level event on South American clay since Rajeev Ram in 2017 in Quito.
[NO 1 CLUB]“I didn’t expect this,” Cerundolo said of his 66-minute win. “I have seen Emilio play really good tennis the past couple of days, so I started super concentrated on my game because I knew it was going to be a really tough match. But I thought I played really well. I rarely missed any shots today. I am really happy with my performance.”
Cerundolo has now earned 150 tour-level wins and is the first active Argentine to hit that mark. He will chase victory 151 when he meets Yannick Hanfmann in his 18th ATP Tour semi-final.
“It is a lot. Not many players can achieve 150 wins, so I am super happy with that milestone,” Cerundolo said. “I will try to achieve more, set more records and try to keep winning.”
Hanfmann battled past Lithuanian lucky loser Vilius Gaubas 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours and 13 minutes to become the first German to advance to an ATP Tour semi-final on clay in South America since Tommy Haas in Sao Paulo in 2014.
Cerundolo leads Hanfmann 4-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having defeated him in the second round in Santiago last year.
Is this the week Daniil Medvedev finally repeats a title win for the first time in his career? The third seed powered past third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 on Friday to reach the final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Medvedev owns 22 tour-level titles and has earned every one at a different event. On Saturday, he will have the chance to change that. The 2023 Dubai champion will face Andrey Rublev or Tallon Griekspoor with the trophy on the line.
[NO 1 CLUB]Medvedev arrived in his 10th career meeting with Auger-Aliassime in top form after beating Shang Juncheng, Stan Wawrinka and Jenson Brooksby in straight sets earlier in the week. He controlled the baseline exchanges against Auger-Aliassime, striking with depth and precision to blunt the Canadian and improve to 8-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
“It has been an amazing four matches, probably playing better and better each match, today being the best performance,” Medvedev said. “If I can put an even better performance tomorrow, I will have my chances to win and that is what I am going to try to do.”
In a controlled performance, Medvedev seized the key moments. At 4-5, 30/40 in the first set, Auger-Aliassime missed a forehand wide to hand Medvedev the opener. At 1-2 in the second set, the Canadian sent another forehand long, giving Medvedev the break of serve. The No. 11 player in the PIF ATP Rankings closed the match in 82 minutes with a clean backhand winner.
Auger-Aliassime was aiming to reach the title match in Dubai for the second consecutive season. Earlier this month, the Canadian lifted the trophy in Montpellier. He now turns his focus to the BNP Paribas Open, the season’s first ATP Masters 1000 event.
Medvedev is into his second final of the season after winning his 20th hard-court tour-level title in Brisbane in January. He is now 13-3 on the year, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Can Alexander Zverev channel fond Acapulco memories to snap a seven-year title wait of sorts this week at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC?
The No. 4 player in the PIF ATP Rankings’ singles title hopes at the ATP 500 may be over for this year, but Zverev remains in contention for a trophy in Mexico. Competing alongside his good friend Marcelo Melo, Zverev on Thursday reached the doubles semi-finals via a 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 victory against Nuno Borges and Miguel Reyes-Varela.
Zverev is a 24-time ATP Tour singles champion and has won at least one of those titles in nine of the past 10 seasons (he did not lift a trophy in 2022, when he missed more than half the year after suffering a serious ankle injury at Roland Garros). Yet in Acapulco, he is chasing his first tour-level doubles title since he triumphed alongside his brother, Mischa Zverev, at the Mexican ATP 500 in 2019. That was Zverev’s second ATP Tour doubles trophy, after he and his brother also won in Montpellier in 2017.
México ❤️ @AlexZverev @AbiertoTelcel | #AMT2026 pic.twitter.com/hF010eRKXo
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 27, 2026
The 28-year-old Zverev holds a 72-89 tour-level record in doubles, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He and Melo, who reached the final together at the 2024 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, will take on #NextGenATP star Rafael Jodar and home favourite Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez in Friday’s semi-finals.
In the other semi-final in Acapulco, Alexander Erler and Robert Galloway will face Vasil Kirkov and Bart Stevens. Erler and Galloway ousted third seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 7-6(3), 6-4 to seal their last-four spot, while qualifiers Kirkov and Stevens downed Guido Andreozzi and Manuel Guinard 6-1, 6-0.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Gael Monfils has long been a fan favourite and a beloved presence in the locker room. Playing his final season on the ATP Tour, Monfils was honoured on Wednesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, with former World No. 3 Juan Martin del Potro among those in attendance.
Monfils, who reached the Acapulco final in 2009 when the tournament was held on clay, was honoured after his second-round match, a 3-6, 3-6 defeat to Valentin Vacherot. During the ceremony, the 39-year-old shared a message of gratitude, acknowledging Del Potro, who was courtside.
“We had big battles. He’s a big champion,” Monfils said of Del Potro. “For me, it means a lot that you’re here, that you send messages. Thank you so much Juan Martin and thank you to the others as well.”
A legend celebrates a legend 😢@delpotrojuan in the house to fete the great @Gael_Monfils in Acapulco. #AMT2026 pic.twitter.com/GEFnvUAaiT
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 27, 2026
Del Potro and Monfils faced each other twice, with the Argentine winning both Lexus ATP Head2Head encounters — each in Rotterdam (2013, 2014).
Monfils earned his first win of 2026 by defeating Damir Dzumhur in the Acapulco first round. A 13-time tour-level titlist, the former No. 6 player in the PIF ATP Rankings boasts a 584-353 career record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Flavio Cobolli continued his quest for a third ATP Tour title Thursday when he surged past China’s Wu Yibing 7-6(4), 6-1 at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.
The Italian, who is the highest-ranked player remaining in Acapulco at No. 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings, is into a semi-final for the second consecutive week, having arrived in Mexico after reaching that stage in Delray Beach.
Despite making just 49 per cent of his first serves, Cobolli won 83 per cent (30/36) of those points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The 23-year-old saved all eight break points he faced, six of which came in the second set. Cobolli dug out of a 15/40 hole in his final three service games, sealing the victory after one hour and 35 minutes.
“I think when you don’t play like you want, but you still stay positive in your mindset — I think it’s [great] for me because it’s never happened in the past. So now it’s a little bit better, I’m very proud,” said Cobolli.
“I really appreciate my attitude on the court because it’s not easy to play against [Wu] and I think he deserved to win the first set. I put a lot of energy in my game and I think I played a really good second set.”
The fifth seed, who last year won the ATP 250 event in Bucharest and the ATP 500 in Hamburg, next faces Miomir Kecmanovic. One day after upsetting top seed Alexander Zverev, Kecmanovic downed French lefty Terence Atmane 6-3, 6-3.
Man on a mission 🫡
No. 5 seed Flavio Cobolli holds firm against Wu 7-6(4), 6-1 to reach his sixth tour-level semi-final. @AbiertoTelcel | #AMT2026 pic.twitter.com/KZKGRk3LeH
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 27, 2026
In other action, Frances Tiafoe advanced to his first Acapulco semi-final in his eighth appearance at the event. The eighth-seeded American downed Italian Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4.
Tiafoe missed a routine forehand down break point when serving at 5-3 in the second set, but regrouped to earn a break of his own in a topsy-turvy game, sealing his place in the last four on his third match point.
Aiming for his fourth tour-level crown and first above ATP 250 level, Tiafoe awaits sixth seed Valentin Vacherot or countryman Brandon Nakashima.