The Dubai Championships date to 1993, when the event was introduced as an ATP-250 tournament at the Aviation Club, with Karel Nováček the first winner of the inaugural Dubai Open. There was no formal stadium at the time — hardcourts surrounded by temporary scaffold seating for 3,000 viewers across all courts. The permanent Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium was officially inaugurated in 1996, and in 2001 the ATP upgraded the tournament from the 250 level to the more prestigious 500 level. The calendar slot has never moved: an outdoor hard-court week at the end of February, slotted between the Australian Open and the Indian Wells–Miami sunshine double.
What sets Dubai apart from its 500-level peers is institutional standing. The event has won the ATP 500 Tournament of the Year award 11 times (as of 2024) — a player-popularity haul no rival in the tier matches. It also broke ground off the court: in 2005 Dubai implemented an equal prize money policy, becoming the third professional tennis event to do so after the US Open and Australian Open. The week runs alongside the WTA Dubai draw, and the women's event swaps WTA 1000 status with Doha on an alternating basis.
No champion looms larger than Roger Federer. He holds the records for most titles (eight), most finals (ten), and most consecutive titles (three), the last shared with Novak Djokovic. In 2019, Federer beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final for his 100th ATP singles title, and in 2006 a 19-year-old Rafael Nadal ended Federer's 56-match hard-court winning streak in one of the venue's most famous finals. More recently the title has spread around: Daniil Medvedev took the 2023 crown over Andrey Rublev, and Ugo Humbert beat Alexander Bublik in the 2024 final.
The most recent edition went to Medvedev again, who lifted the trophy without playing the final — Tallon Griekspoor withdrew, handing the Russian the title by walkover, so there was no scoreline. With prize money set at US $3,311,005, Dubai remains the richest, most decorated stop in the ATP 500 tier heading into the clay swing.