Daniil Medvedev says this is “not how I wanted to win” a second title at the Dubai Tennis Championships after Tallon Griekspoor withdrew from the final due to injury.
Dutchman Griekspoor injured his left hamstring during a 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) semi-final win over Andrey Rublev on Friday and said he would have withdrawn injured if he had lost the second set.
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The tournament said Saturday that Griekspoor had been “deemed unfit to play” after a medical evaluation.
Russian Medvedev wrote on X: “This is not how I want to win a final. I hope Tallon’s injury is not too serious and I wish him a speedy recovery.”
It was the first time Medvedev, who won the title in 2023, had won the same tournament twice. His previous 22 titles had been won at different events.
“That’s the crazy thing. I’ve never done it in any city in the world, and the first time I’m doing it, it’s a walk in the park,” he told the ATP Tour website.
“I played a great tournament, the four matches I played. Of course I wanted to play the final, but that’s how it is.”
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Former world number one Medvedev, who did not lose a set during the tournament, has won two titles this year and three in the last four months.
His representative told the New York Times They were trying to establish how Medvedev could travel to California for the Indian Wells tournament next week after the United Arab Emirates “partially and temporarily” closed its airspace.
Airlines flying to the Middle East canceled or diverted flights after the United States and Israel launched deadly strikes against Iran on Saturday.
In response, Iran launched strikes targeting Israel and other sites in the Middle East.
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Earlier, Britain’s Henry Patten and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara won back-to-back men’s doubles titles with a 7-5 7-5 victory over Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic in Dubai.
Patten and Heliovaara have won three of their four tournaments together this year.
