It comes on the heels of a scorching Australian summer, tucked in just ahead of America\u2019s daunting Sunshine Double.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz\u2019s Middle East Swing, a nifty niche playing out across February. A launching pad, a dazzling opportunity for those willing to take it.<\/p>\n
Last year, it was Belinda Bencic, Amanda Anisimova and Mirra Andreeva. Abu Dhabi sparked a memorable comeback for Bencic, a new mother. Doha was a portent of great things to come for Anisimova. Dubai was the start of a breakout run by teenager Andreeva.<\/p>\n
Iga Swiatek began her monumental 2022 and 2023 seasons with titles in Doha, and Jasmine Paolini first jumped into the consciousness of casual tennis fans when she became the 2024 Dubai champion.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the most memorable storylines from the past three years of the Middle East Swing:<\/p>\n
2025
\nDubai: The rise of Mirra Andreeva\u00a0<\/p>\n
–The Storyline: At age 17, Andreeva became the youngest WTA 1000 champion, cracking the Top 10 for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
–Notable match (semifinal): Andreeva def. Elena Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 \u00a0<\/p>\n
Two years earlier, in the process of turning 16, Andreeva made headlines when she beat three Top 50 players in Madrid, but this was the breakthrough moment. After that grueling win over Rybakina, she backed it up with a 7-6 (1), 6-1 win over Clara Tauson in the final. “I’ve been dreaming of having a press conference with a [WTA 1000] trophy by my side, so finally it happened,” Andreeva said afterward. “But I saw winners drinking a glass of champagne. It’s a pity that I’m still 17.”<\/p>\n
Doha: Anisimova\u2019s giant-slaying run\u00a0<\/p>\n
–The Storyline: Unseeded Amanda Anisimova captured her first-career WTA 1000 title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
–Notable match (final): Anisimova def. Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-3<\/p>\n
She was a former World No. 2 junior but, struggling with expectations, Anisimova left tennis for the back half of the 2023 season to focus on her mental health. Doha was when she announced her return to elite form, beating, in order, Victoria Azarenka, Paula Badosa, Leylah Fernandez, Marta Kostyuk, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Ostapenko. \u201cIt feels amazing,\u201d she said succinctly. Anisimova was destined to reach back-to-back Grand Slam finals, more milestones in a season of firsts.<\/p>\n
Abu Dhabi: Bencic\u2019s \u201cmotherhood” milestone\u00a0<\/p>\n
–The Storyline: Returning as a wild card, Belinda Bencic won the title just 10 months after giving birth to her daughter Bella — the first mother to win a WTA singles title since 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n
–Notable match (final): Bencic def. Ashlyn Krueger 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 \u00a0<\/p>\n
She prepped for the 2025 season, playing some smaller tournaments in December with few expectations. And then the Olympic gold medalist powered into the fourth round of the Australian Open. This WTA 500 title came after beating Rybakina in a three-set semifinal and mounting a dramatic comeback against Krueger. \u201cBig emotions, of course,” Bencic said. \u201cI feel like I needed to put [on] my turbo in the second and third set. It was a really special moment, seeing Bella there in the third set.”<\/p>\n
2024
\nDubai: The qualifier vs. the underdog\u00a0<\/p>\n
–The Storyline: Qualifier Anna Kalinskaya upset three Top 10 players to reach the final, but Jasmine Paolini\u2019s grit earned the Italian her first WTA 1000 title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
–Notable match (final): Paolini def. Kalinskaya 4-6, 7-5, 7-5\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was down a set and a break in the final — Kalinskaya served for the match at 5-4 in the third set — but the 28-year-old Italian rallied for her second career title. Paolini won 16 of the last 19 points. Big finishes were the theme of her rousing week. Earlier, she was down a set and a break to No. 11 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, then won 10 straight games. She saved six set points during the course of her 6-2, 7-6(6) semifinal victory over Sorana Cirstea.<\/p>\n
Get ready! The next stretch of the season runs through the Middle East<\/p>\n
Doha: The three-peat\u00a0<\/p>\n
–The Storyline: Iga Swiatek became the first woman in nearly a decade to win the same tournament three years in a row.\u00a0<\/p>\n
–Notable match (final): Swiatek def. Elena Rybakina 7-6(8), 6-2 \u00a0<\/p>\n
After taking the titles in 2022 and 2023, Swiatek knew that history was at stake. \u201cI\u2019m happy that I kept working and just didn\u2019t really think about too much stuff during this week, and just focused on the right things,\u201d Swiatek said. \u201cComing here and being the double-defending champion wasn\u2019t easy.\u201d But she just made it look that way against Rybakina, who had beaten her in their past three meetings. The first set required 90 minutes but after saving two break points in the opening game of the second set, Swiatek was on her way.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Abu Dhabi: Rybakina\u2019s clinical power\u00a0<\/p>\n
–The Storyline: Elena Rybakina dropped only one set all week to win the title, cementing her status as a hard-court force.\u00a0<\/p>\n
–Notable match (final): Rybakina def. Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4 \u00a0<\/p>\n
A few weeks earlier, in the second round of the Australian Open, Rybakina lost a torrid third-set tiebreak 22-20 to Anna Blinkova. Blinkova converted her 10th\u00a0match point, while Rybakina was 0-8. After that heartbreak, Rybakina rallied famously to take the title in Abu Dhabi. Her run, which included wins over Danielle Collins, Cristina Bucsa and Liudmila Samsonova, produced her seventh career title.<\/p>\n
2023
\nDubai: Krejcikova\u2019s “Triple Crown\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
–The Storyline: Barbora Krejcikova became just the fifth woman to defeat the world’s top three players (No. 1 Iga Swiatek, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Jessica Pegula) in a single tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n
–Notable match (quarterfinal): Krejcikova def. Sabalenka 0-6, 7-6(2), 6-1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Krejcikova has never been afraid of the big moments. After handling Sabalenka in that semifinal, she took down Swiatek 6-4, 6-2, ending her eight-match win streak. Krejcikova became the first player to beat Swiatek twice since she assumed the No. 1 ranking the year before. \u201cIt was a great week for me,\u201d Krejcikova said. \u201cI think I was improving with every single game, and today I finished on my best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doha: Swiatek\u2019s defensive masterclass\u00a0<\/p>\n
–The Storyline: Iga Swiatek set a WTA record for the fewest games lost (five) en route to a title, breaking Chris Evert\u2019s 1981 record.\u00a0<\/p>\n
–Notable match (final): Swiatek def. Pegula 6-3, 6-0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Utter domination. Swiatek began with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Danielle Collins and, after getting a walkover from Belinda\u00a0Bencic, defeated Veronika Kudermetova by the same score. Pegula managed only those three games in the 69-minute final. Swiatek joined Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova as a two-time winner in Doha. “I think this tournament is going to give me a lot of confidence, but still, I want to take everything step by step,\u201d Swiatek said.<\/p>\n
Abu Dhabi: Bencic\u2019s marathon title run\u00a0<\/p>\n
–The Storyline: In the inaugural WTA 500 edition, Belinda Bencic saved three championship points to secure her second title of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
–Notable match (final): Bencic def. Liudmila Samsonova 1-6, 7-6(8), 6-4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bencic had lost all three previous matchups against Samsonova, but just when it looked like the Swiss player would go 0-4, she saved those match points and pivoted to victory. \u201cI\u2019m really happy with how I stayed strong and I\u2019m super happy to finally beat Samsonova and win the title,\u201d Bencic said. \u201cThe third championship point that I saved was a long rally and I tried to scramble for each shot and win another point. Sometimes it\u2019s easy to lose focus and mentally walk away but I felt really good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It comes on the heels of a scorching Australian summer, tucked in just ahead of America\u2019s daunting Sunshine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,1602,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-403001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-text","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}