Mubadala World Tennis Championships

Carlos Alcaraz, Ons Jabeur, Emma Raducanu, Stefanos Tsitsipas sign off from Abu Dhabi

By Baseline Staff Dec 18, 2022
The Business of Tennis

Coco Gauff recorded the third-highest earning season ever for a female athlete

By Stephanie Livaudais Dec 21, 2024
Social

Stefanos Tsitsipas 'couldn't be prouder' of Paula Badosa for winning 2024 WTA Comeback Player of the Year

By Liya Davidov Dec 20, 2024
2024 Year in Review

The Baseline Awards: Nadal, Muguruza, Murray, Kerber and more say goodbye in 2024

By Van Sias Dec 20, 2024
Social

Another tennis wedding! Julia Goerges and Wesley Koolhof tie the knot

By Baseline Staff Dec 20, 2024
Social

Agnieszka Radwanska, former world No. 2, to work with Magda Linette: "Someone pinch me!"

By Baseline Staff Dec 19, 2024
Social

Kevin Hart takes on Naomi Osaka in pickleball: ‘Whooped my ass like I stole something’

By Liya Davidov Dec 19, 2024
2024 Year in Review

The Baseline Awards: No dry eyes after Barbora Krejcikova’s Wimbledon run

By Van Sias Dec 19, 2024
The Business of Tennis

Serena Williams: ‘I would have had 30’ Slams if I didn’t have to play Venus (and she would've had at least 15)

By Liya Davidov Dec 18, 2024
Pop Culture

Netflix to produce Rafael Nadal docuseries spotlighting final season, career development

By Baseline Staff Dec 18, 2024
Mubadala World Tennis Championships

Carlos Alcaraz, Ons Jabeur, Emma Raducanu, Stefanos Tsitsipas sign off from Abu Dhabi

Tsitsipas and Jabeur won their respective events at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships.

ByBaseline Staff

Published Dec 18, 2022

WATCH: Ons Jabeur beat Emma Raducanu in the women's exhibition at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.

Advertising

With less than two weeks until the start of the 2023 tennis season, it's a sure bet that Ons Jabeur and Stefanos Tsitsipas are ready to go after they were the winners of this weekend Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi.

In the fifth edition of the women's exhibition, Jabeur beat Emma Raducanu on Friday 5-7, 6-3, [10-8] to win the title for the second straight year in a place she says "feels like home."

A year after she'd first hoped to, Raducanu seemed to enjoy her long-awaited Abu Dhabi debut. The Brit was supposed to compete against Belinda Bencic in last year's women's exhibition match, but came down with COVID-19 and couldn't play.

Amid reports she's taken on a new coach, Sebastian Sachs, Raducanu hit the court for the first time since her 2022 season ended prematurely due to a wrist injury.

She looked strong against world No. 2 Jabeur: Raducanu four straight games from 5-3 down in the first set, but failed to convert an 8-6 lead in the 10-point match tiebreak.

Advertising

In the six-player men's event, third-seeded Tsitsipas won the title with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over No. 4 seed and defending champion Andrey Rublev. Previously, he beat fifth seed Cameron Norrie (6-1, 6-4) in the quarterfinals, and No. 2 seed Casper Ruud (6-2, 6-2) in the semifinals.

Advertising

But perhaps the most notable participant in the UAE's capital city was world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who played his first competitive tennis of any kind since he suffered an abdominal tear against eventual champion Holger Rune in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Paris Masters.

Forced out of both the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup Finals, Alcaraz nonetheless ended the season as world No. 1, the youngest to ever do so, and was awarded Most Improved Player of the Year honors.

Though he went 0-2 in Abu Dhabi with a semifinal loss to Rublev (6-2, 6-1) and a third-place loss to Ruud (6-1, 6-4) in a rematch of the US Open final, the teenager was in good spirits on social media in the aftermath.

Looking ahead, Tsitsipas and Ruud will represent Greece and Norway, respectively, in the inaugural mixed-gender United Cup that begins in Australia on Dec. 29.

Jabeur will officially open her 2023 season at the first of two WTA 500 events in Adelaide, while Raducanu will head to Auckland, New Zealand for the return of the ASB Classic.