World Tennis Championship

The World Tennis Championship (currently sponsored by Mubadala) is a men's singles professional tennis exhibition tournament, played on outdoor hard courts. It has been held annually since 2009 at the Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Not to be confused with World Championship Tennis or ITF World Champions.
Mubadala World Tennis Championship
Tournament information
Founded2009 (2009)
LocationAbu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
VenueAbu Dhabi International Tennis Complex
CategoryExhibition
SurfaceHard
Draw6S (Men)
2S (Women)
Prize moneyUS$250,000
Websitemubadalawtc.com
Current champions (2019 Dec.)
Men's singles Rafael Nadal
Women's singles Maria Sharapova

History
First logo of the World Championship Tennis

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.[1]

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.[1] Murray won the event, defeating Blake, Federer, and then-World No. 1 Nadal in the final.[2]

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, Jelena Ostapenko defeated Serena Williams in the first-ever women's match at the tournament.[3]

Past finals

Men's singles
Year Champions Runners-up Score
2009 (Jan.) Andy Murray Rafael Nadal6–4, 5–7, 6–3
2010 (Jan.) Rafael Nadal Robin Söderling7–6(7–3), 7–5
2011 (Jan.) Rafael Nadal (2) Roger Federer7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–3)
2011 (Dec.) Novak Djokovic David Ferrer6–2, 6–1
2012 (Dec.) Novak Djokovic (2) Nicolás Almagro6–7(4–7), 6–3, 6–4
2013 (Dec.) Novak Djokovic (3) David Ferrer7–5, 6–2
2015 (Jan.) Andy Murray (2) Novak Djokovicwalkover
2016 (Jan.) Rafael Nadal (3) Milos Raonic7–6(7–2), 6–3
2016 (Dec.) Rafael Nadal (4) David Goffin6–4, 7–6(7–5)
2017 (Dec.) Kevin Anderson Roberto Bautista Agut6–4, 7–6(7–0)
2018 (Dec.) Novak Djokovic (4) Kevin Anderson4–6, 7–5, 7–5
2019 (Dec.) Rafael Nadal (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas6–7(3–7), 7–5, 7–6(7–3)

Women's singles
Year Champions Runners-up Score
2017 (Dec.) Jeļena Ostapenko Serena Williams6–2, 3–6, [10–5]
2018 (Dec.) Venus Williams Serena Williams4–6, 6–3, [10–8]
2019 (Dec.) Maria Sharapova Ajla Tomljanović6–4, 7–5

Records

Men's singles

References
  1. "Flash, IMG and Capitala launch Abu Dhabi's first international tennis tournament". ameinfo.com. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  2. "Murray battles to win over Nadal". BBC Sport. 2009-01-03. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  3. "Serena says good to be back, despite loss to Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi" Yahoo! Sports; retrieved January 7, 2018
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