By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev was awarded the Dubai Tennis Championships title after his opponent Tallon Griekspoor withdrew due to an injury.
Griekspoor defeated another Russian, fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev, in straight sets in the semifinals on Friday but fought through the injury suffered in that match. He said after his victory that he would have retired from the match if he had lost the second set.
For Medvedev, this is his 23rd career title and second in Dubai (2023). This is the first time he has won a tournament for a second time.
He defeated top-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in the semifinal and didn’t drop a set in the tournament.
“Not how I want to win a final. Hoping the injury for (Griekspoor) is not too bad and wishing him a speedy recovery,” Medvedev wrote on X.
Meanwhile Italy’s Flavio Cobolli won his third career ATP title — his first in a hard-court event — with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 defeat of Frances Tiafoe in Saturday’s championship match at Acapulco, Mexico.