Andy Murray has been awarded a main draw wildcard into Dubai, the tournament announced.
Murray, 35, is set to make his eighth appearance on the hard courts of Dubai.
Murray’s best Dubai result came in 2017, when he defeated Fernando Verdasco in the final to lift his first title at the tournament.
Murray also enjoyed a very strong Dubai run in 2012, when he made the final before losing to Roger Federer.
The Dubai event is from the ATP 500 class and it is scheduled to start on February 27th.
Murray, ranked at No 61 in the world, is looking forward to Dubai as he is hoping to earn some points and improve his ranking.
“Coming back to Dubai brings with it a lot of good memories, not least 2017 and the final with Fernando. My form is improving and my game is getting better, so the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships provides another great opportunity for me to continue to climb back up the rankings,” Murray said in his statement, per the tournament’s website.
The Dubai organizers looking forward to hosting Murray
“We are delighted to welcome Andy back to Dubai. Everybody knows how important a figure he is in British tennis and, as we have seen in the seven previous times he has competed at our event, he always attracts a strong and passionate support base. He accepted our wildcard last year and was a credit to the tournament and we are very happy he has accepted our invite once again,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO of the Dubai event.
Meanwhile, Murray is coming off an Australian Open third-round showing.
At Melbourne Park, Murray clinched back-to-back thriller five-set wins over Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis before falling short against Roberto Bautista Agut.
It remains to be seen if former world No 1 Murray can turn back the clock and make a deep Dubai run in late February and early March.