Abu Dhabi: Canada’s Milos Raonic has confirmed his return to the annual season-opening Mubadala World Tennis Championship from December 29 to 31.
The tournament sees six players battle it out over three days at the International Tennis Centre at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi for a winner-takes-all shot at $250,000 (Dh918,250). Previous editions have seen the likes of current world numbers one to five; Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal, compete.
World No 9 Raonic is the first player to be confirmed this year. After reaching the final against Nadal on his event debut last year, he carried his form into Brisbane before knocking former champion Wawrinka out of this year’s Australian Open. He then advanced through to the semi-finals of the Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
“I am very excited to be returning to Abu Dhabi for the Championship,” he said. “I had a really enjoyable experience last year; challenging for the title in my debut outing and taking in an incredible atmosphere. It’s a fantastic start to the season to face off against the other top players and we can all get our games going early on. Last year the tournament helped me to start the year strong and I’ll be hoping for more of the same this time around. The line-up is always challenging in Abu Dhabi but that’s one of the main attractions. I am already looking forward to getting back out to the UAE and meeting the fans. The tournament will be a great way to end 2016 and an even better way to start the New Year and the new season.”
In addition to the tennis, the tournament also boasts exciting off-court action in the Tennis Village, where players will be conducting tennis clinics and signing autographs for fans.
Tickets go on sale to the general public at 12pm on Tuesday, June 21 at www.ticketmaster.ae and all Virgin Megastores across the UAE. An exclusive 24 hour pre-sale starts on Monday, June 20 at 12pm for loyal customers, who registered their email addresses at previous editions of the tournament.
Tickets start from Dh50 a day for children and Dh100 per day for adults for Category 2 seating, with exclusive premier hospitality packages also available including food and limited beverage, star player meet and greets and courtside seating.
F1 ticket holders redeeming their Y1 Access benefits will get a 20 per cent discount on Category 2 tickets. Y1 Access is the money off advantage programme for buyers of tickets to the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and extends across a selection of major events from the time of purchase until February 2017.
For more information, long on to www.mubadalawtc.com and www.facebook.com/mubadalaworldtennischampionship.
