Dubai
\n Auger-Aliassime converts 6th MP in Dubai opener, Draper wins on return<\/p>\n
Top seed downs Zhang, sets R2 vs. Mpetshi Perricard at ATP 500 event<\/p>\n
February 23, 2026<\/p>\n
Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Felix Auger-Aliassime is the top seed at an event above ATP 250 level for the first time this week in Dubai (file photo).
\n By ATP Staff<\/p>\n
Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/a> is back at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships<\/a> determined to go one step further than last year, and the top seed made a confident start to his 2026 campaign on Monday, despite needing six match points to cross the line.<\/p>\n The No. 8 player in the PIF ATP Rankings moved past Zhang Zhizhen<\/a> 6-3, 7-(4) to launch his title bid at the ATP 500 event. Twelve months ago, Auger-Aliassime advanced to the Dubai final before falling to an inspired Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a>, and the Canadian is once again among the favourites.<\/p>\n \u201cI stopped counting at some point, it was getting too frustrating,\u201d Auger-Aliassime said of the missed match points. \u201cHaving match points is the position you want to be in as a player, but it\u2019s weird how the mind plays a trick on you. How much further I am from losing than he is, he should be the one that\u2019s tight. But I told myself \u2018If there is a third set, I\u2019ll be there\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Since retiring from his first-round clash with Nuno Borges<\/a> at the Australian Open<\/a> in January, Auger-Aliassime has rediscovered some of his best form. He has won nine of his past 10 matches, lifting the trophy in Montpellier before finishing runner-up in Rotterdam.<\/p>\n With his speed and crafty court coverage, Auger-Aliassime saved all four break points he faced against Zhang, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The 25-year-old then missed two match points on return at 5-4 and three at 6-5 in the second set, but produced a clinical response in the tie-break.<\/p>\n Competing as the top seed at an event above ATP 250 level for the first time, Auger-Aliassime will next face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard<\/a>, who earlier snapped his five-match tour-level losing streak. The big-serving French qualifier defeated Tunisian wild card Moez Echargui<\/a> 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 7-6(4) to earn his first win since reaching the quarter-finals in Auckland in January.<\/p>\n Jack Draper<\/a> marked his return to ATP Tour action in style on Monday, defeating last year\u2019s Dubai semi-finalist Quentin Halys<\/a> 7-6(8), 6-3 in just his second tour-level match of the year. The Briton, who shut down his 2025 season after the US Open<\/a> due to injury, also earned a win at the Davis Cup victory earlier this month.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels so good to be out here competing in front of people,\u201d said Draper, the former World No. 4. \u201cI had a tough opponent today. I think he was tricky. He served great. It could have been a little cleaner from my side, but I hadn\u2019t played on the Tour for a long time. I\u2019m really proud of the way I came out tonight and hopefully I can keep on going from strength to strength.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been craving the feeling of competing for a very long time. It just felt normal. It felt like I was coming back to doing what I love. A lot of people have helped me get back to this position after a lot of down moments [during] the past eight months. To be back here, that\u2019s something to be really proud of, and long may it continue.\u201d<\/p>\n In other action on Monday, 2016 Dubai winner Stan Wawrinka<\/a> earned his sixth consecutive opening-round win by defeating Benjamin Hassan<\/a> 7-5, 6-3. Roger Federer<\/a>, the tournament\u2019s record eight-time champion, was in attendance to watch his countryman.<\/p>\n With the victory, Wawrinka also improved to 10 tour-level wins since turning 40 \u2014 the most by any player in that age group in the Open Era. The Swiss will next face third seed and 2023 champion Daniil Medvedev<\/a> or Shang Juncheng<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dubai Auger-Aliassime converts 6th MP in Dubai opener, Draper wins on return Top seed downs Zhang, sets R2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4105],"tags":[79,1068,16,15],"class_list":["post-784647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116122540041459305","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}