He arrived in Dubai this week determined to break the streak at the venue where he lifted the trophy in 2023. He played four matches of devastating quality. He never played the fifth. And by the time Saturday night fell, the celebration he had imagined looked nothing like the reality that surrounded him.
Medvedev was awarded the 2026 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title by walkover after Tallon Griekspoor withdrew from the final with a left hamstring injury sustained during Friday's semi-final. It is his 23rd career title, his second of the season after Brisbane in January, and the first time he has ever won the same event twice. He greeted the milestone with characteristic self-awareness and a social media post that captured the mood better than any trophy ceremony could: "Not how I want to win a final.”
The irony was not lost on him. When asked about finally breaking his streak of unique title cities, Medvedev smiled and acknowledged the absurdity. He had spoken on Friday about wanting to earn it properly, about how his practice had been flawless all week, about how he felt incapable of missing a ball.
The tennis had backed up the confidence. His route to the final was as clinical as anything he has produced in recent years: Shang Juncheng 6-1, 6-3; Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3; Jenson Brooksby 6-2, 6-1 in under an hour; then top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 in Thursday's semi-final. Four matches, four straight-sets wins, zero sets dropped. With those 21 hard-court titles, he has tied Jannik Sinner for the second-most on the surface among active players, behind only Novak Djokovic's 72. His 13-3 record in 2026 places him third in the ATP Race to Turin.
Griekspoor's story deserved a better ending too. The Dutchman produced the week's most compelling narrative arc, arriving as the 26th-ranked player in the draw and systematically dismantling the field with a brand of aggressive, high-risk tennis that left seeded opponents scrambling. He opened with a composed 6-3, 6-4 win over Otto Virtanen, then stunned second seed Alexander Bublik 6-3, 7-6(4), attacking the Kazakh's serve and neutralising his unpredictable shot-making. In the quarter-finals, he fought past sixth seed Jakub Mensik 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, pulling away in the decider as the 20-year-old Czech, who had beaten Sinner in Doha a week earlier, tightened under pressure. Three top-20 scalps in three rounds.
The semi-final against Andrey Rublev was where it all came apart physically, even as the scoreboard told a story of triumph. Griekspoor landed awkwardly after a serve midway through the opening set and immediately felt his left hamstring give. He later admitted he would have retired had he lost the second set. Instead, he fought through to win 7-5, 7-6(6), saving break points, grimacing between rallies, and somehow finding enough in his legs to close out the tiebreak. He limped into his post-match press conference knowing the final was in serious doubt. Saturday morning's hospital scans confirmed what his body had already told him.
"I went to the hospital this morning and had a couple of scans, which showed something serious," Griekspoor said during the trophy ceremony, his voice carrying the weight of a week that had been the finest of his career until its final hours. He will miss Indian Wells and Miami. For a player seeking his first ATP 500 title, the timing was devastating.
The trophy ceremony happened on Saturday afternoon. By Saturday evening, the world around the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium had changed entirely. Iranian missiles and drones struck the UAE as part of retaliatory attacks across the Gulf following US and Israeli strikes on Iran. A fire broke out at the Fairmont Hotel on Palm Jumeirah. Dubai International Airport was evacuated. Airspace closed across the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Residents sheltered in underground car parks. The city that had spent a month showcasing the finest tennis in the world was suddenly unrecognisable.
Medvedev spent Saturday night in the hotel reception area with his team. He described the atmosphere as unsettling, with loud sounds and visible flashes across the Gulf sky. His training partner Holger Rune was shaken. Friends and family flooded their phones with concerned messages. Eventually they returned to their rooms and slept. When he spoke publicly on Sunday, his assessment was measured but direct: everything was fine, but nobody could leave. Flights were cancelled. Indian Wells, which begins March 4, suddenly felt very far away.
Bublik, the second seed who lost to Griekspoor in the second round, managed to board a flight out of the region just before airspace was officially closed. He shared his relief on social media. Others were not so fortunate. Players, coaches, and support staff from across the draw found themselves stranded in a city under an entirely different kind of pressure than the sporting variety they had come for.
The 2026 Dubai ATP 500 will be remembered for Medvedev's excellence and Griekspoor's courage. But it will also be remembered as the tournament that ended in a walkover and woke up to explosions. The trophy was presented. The ranking points were awarded. The prize money, $619,160 for the champion, will be deposited. The tennis was real, and it was very good. Everything that followed was a reminder that sport exists within a world that does not pause for finals.
Medvedev now owns a 13-3 record in 2026, two titles from two finals, and the distinction of being the only man to have won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships more than once since Roger Federer's eighth title in 2019. The competition for that distinction is telling: Federer holds eight Dubai crowns and compiled a 53-6 career record at the event. Medvedev, in his own quieter way, is building something at this venue.
He just never imagined it would feel like this.
