Daniil Medvedev gifted Dubai title as opponent withdraws and Russian issues statement

Daniil Medvedev has been awarded the Dubai Tennis Championship title by default after his final opponent, Tallon Griekspoor, withdrew from the event. It marks the first time Medvedev has ever won the same event twice, having tasted glory in Dubai three years ago.

Griekspoor pulled out of Saturday's scheduled final through injury, having struggled throughout his semi-final with Andrey Rublev. There had been fears that the final would be postponed because of overnight developments involving the USA-Iranian conflict.

Medvedev issued a statement to social media, saying: "Not how I want to win a final. Hoping the injury for @Griekii is not too bad and wishing him a speedy recovery."

Express Sport understands a trophy presentation will take place after the doubles final.

After beating Rublev in the semi-final, Griekspoor revealed he could "barely walk" having picked up an injury in the clash. Speaking on court, he said: “No idea how I pulled off this one.

"I could barely walk from the end of the first set. I guess lucky and unlucky at the same time, at least I could go out there in the second and just swing, try to keep my serve games, try to get a look somewhere on his serve, which didn’t happen, because he served extremely well.

“Then I got very lucky in the tiebreak to win it in two sets, because if this was going three, it was going to be an extremely hard story, so no idea how I pulled this one off. I landed with the serve, and I felt something with my hamstring...

“Like I said, I served well, which kept me in this match, and I was extremely lucky in the end to pull it off. I’m just going to try to recover as good as possible, do everything I can, and hopefully be ready for tomorrow.”

Overnight developments regarding bombings in the Middle East had put the tennis action at jeopardy, with nearby Abu Dhabi having been hit hard by bombings. The United States military, in conjunction with Israel, attacked Iran overnight, with the Middle Eastern nation having launched retaliatory attacks.

Explosions were reported in Abu Dhabi, as well as Dubai, which is where the ATP 500 event was taking place. There are reports of one death following the bombings that took place in the UAE.