The Mubadala World Tennis Championship was a men's and women's singles exhibition tournament. It was held annually from 2009 through 2022 at the Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
History
In November 2008, sponsor companies Flash and Capitala announced with IMG their partnership to create a new tennis exhibition for the beginning of the season, to take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The event, first named Capitala World Tennis Championship, was conceived to promote the sport in the region, creating another world class tennis event in the Middle East alongside the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Dubai Tennis Championships, already taking place in the UAE, the ATP Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the WTA Qatar Total Open, taking place in Doha, Qatar, and the WTA Tour Championships, also set in Doha from 2008 to 2010. The six-player, three-day exhibition, with a winner-takes-all prize money of US$250,000, preceded by weeks of tennis-themed activities in the region, including an amateur Community Cup tournament in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, was created to take place early in the season, before the start of the actual tour events, as a warm-up exhibition for the top players, similar to the AAMI Classic in Melbourne.
The inaugural Capitala World Tennis Championship took place from January 1 to January 3, 2009, with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick and James Blake taking part. Murray won the event, defeating Blake, Federer, and then-World No. 1 Nadal in the final.
As of October 2009, Federer, Nadal and Davydenko announced they would return for the 2010 edition, with Stanislas Wawrinka, David Ferrer and Robin Söderling completing the field. Nadal went one further this time, defeating compatriot Ferrer in the semi-finals and Söderling in the final without losing a set. Federer won third place with victory over Ferrer.
For the 2011 edition of the tournament, Nadal, Federer and Söderling returned with Tomáš Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marcos Baghdatis completing the six-man line-up. Nadal defended the title with a hard-fought victory over Federer after they respectively beat Berdych and Söderling in the semi-finals.
The second 2011 edition (held on December 29–31, 2011) featured Nadal, Federer, Ferrer, Tsonga, Novak Djokovic and Gaël Monfils. Djokovic won the title by beating Monfils and Federer before defeating Ferrer in the final. In the battle for third place, Nadal triumphed over Federer.
On December 30, 2017, Jeļena Ostapenko defeated Serena Williams in the first-ever women's match at the tournament."Serena says good to be back, despite loss to Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi" Yahoo! Sports; retrieved January 7, 2018
Past finals Men's singles YearChampionsRunners-upScore2009 Andy Murray Rafael Nadal6–4, 5–7, 6–32010 Rafael Nadal Robin Söderling7–6(7–3), 7–52011 (Jan.) Rafael Nadal Roger Federer7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–3)2011 (Dec.) Novak Djokovic David Ferrer6–2, 6–12012 Novak Djokovic Nicolás Almagro6–7(4–7), 6–3, 6–42013 Novak Djokovic David Ferrer7–5, 6–22015 Andy Murray Novak Djokovic(walkover)2016 (Jan.) Rafael Nadal Milos Raonic7–6(7–2), 6–32016 (Dec.) Rafael Nadal David Goffin6–4, 7–6(7–5)2017 Kevin Anderson Roberto Bautista Agut 6–4, 7–6(7–0)2018 Novak Djokovic Kevin Anderson 4–6, 7–5, 7–52019 Rafael Nadal Stefanos Tsitsipas6–7(3–7), 7–5, 7–6(7–3)2020 Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic2021 Andrey Rublev Andy Murray6–4, 7–6(7–2)2022 Stefanos Tsitsipas Andrey Rublev6–2, 4–6, 6–2
Women's singles YearChampionsRunners-upScore2017 Jeļena Ostapenko Serena Williams 6–2, 3–6, [10–5]2018 Venus Williams Serena Williams 4–6, 6–3, [10–8]2019 Maria Sharapova Ajla Tomljanović 6–4, 7–52020 Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic2021 Ons Jabeur Belinda Bencic4–6, 6–3, [10–8]2022 Ons Jabeur Emma Raducanu5–7, 6–3, [10–8]
Records Men's singles Most titles Rafael Nadal5Most finals Rafael Nadal6Most consecutive titles Novak Djokovic 3Most matches played Rafael Nadal22Most matches won Rafael Nadal15Most editions played Rafael Nadal11Best winning % Novak Djokovic92%Youngest champion Andy Murray21y, 7m, 23dOldest champion Rafael Nadal33y, 6m, 21d
References
External links Official website