Mubadala World Tennis Championship field includes Alcaraz, Ruud, and Tsitsipas

The Mubadala World Tennis Championship, which is annually the most prestigious offseason event in tennis, will take place Friday through Sunday in Abu Dhabi.

As usual, the six-man field is loaded. Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud have byes to the semifinals as the two highest-ranked players, while Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, Cameron Norrie, and Frances Tiafoe round out the lineup. The two quarterfinal matches are Tsitsipas vs. Norrie and Rublev vs. Tiafoe.

Every player is guaranteed at least two matches, as the two quarterfinal losers will play for fifth place and the semifinals will contest a third-place match. The champion will be played at 3:00 pm in the afternoon as opposed to its normal nighttime slot so that it won’t conflict with the World Cup final in Qatar.

A women’s match will feature Ons Jabeur and Emma Raducanu.

“The draw of any championship is always an exciting moment as it gives the feeling the competition is nearing,” said John Lickrish, CEO of Flash Entertainment, which runs the tournament. “As well as the women’s match, which is always a great spectacle, this year’s draw has also thrown up some highly intriguing ties, with Tsitsipas and Norrie going head-to-head with an equal win rate against one another, and Tiafoe facing Rublev in what is a re-run of the US Open quarterfinal. Abu Dhabi is in for a treat.

“I’m really excited to watch this incredible generation of tennis stars in action across the three days of the championship.”

Andrey Rublev is the defending champion, having beaten Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6(2) in last year’s final. Murray is one of three multi-time champions in Abu Dhabi with two titles. The others are Rafael Nadal (five) and Novak Djokovic (four).

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.