The Dubai Championships, also known as the Dubai Tennis Championships, or Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons, has been played since 1993 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and it's one of the rare events that host both ATP and WTA tournaments.
They aren't played simultaneously but in consecutive weeks, often attracting some of the strongest fields. It generally features one of the highest prize funds outside of the Grand Slams and unfolds at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre.
The venue has a 5,000-seat main court and has been the hosting site since the start of the event. The list of former champions consists of many great players, such as Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
On the other hand, the women's tournament, which has a slightly shorter history, was won by the likes of Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Simona Halep, and Caroline Wozniacki.
In 2009, the tournament was part of a controversy, when Shahar Pe'er was denied a visa to enter the country, and the tournament director, Salah Tahlak, later claimed that her participation could "incite anger" in an Arab country. As a result, the tournament organizers were fined $300,000.
The tournament also wrote history in a positive way when it started giving players equal prize money in 2005, becoming the first non-Grand Slam tournament to do so.
