With eyes already on 2023, Ons Jabeur and Emma Raducanu hit the court in Abu Dhabi on Friday for the women's exhibition match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.
It was a long-awaited debut for Raducanu in the UAE's capital city, as she'd hoped to play against Belinda Bencic in last year's women's exhibition, only to be forced out after testing positive for COVID-19.
Coincidentally, Jabeur replaced her, and defeated Bencic in in three sets to win the title in a place she says "feels like home."
Against Raducanu, Jabeur did it again: In a well-played, but good-natured, exhibition, Jabeur retained her title, 5-7, 6-3, [10-8]. The pair have yet to play on the Hologic WTA Tour.
Despite the defeat, 2021 US Open champion Raducanu was in high spirits before, during, and after her first competitive match of any kind since her 2022 season ended in October due to a wrist injury. She was forced out of Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup Finals team in November as a result.
The Brit won 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.
ATP players have competed at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship annually since 2009, and a one-day women's exhibition was added at the tournament in 2017. Jelena Ostapenko won the inaugural edition against Serena Williams, and Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova were other prior winners.
If social media was anything to go by, Raducanu and Jabeur enjoyed the lead-up to the event with their male counterparts, including Andrey Rublev, Cameron Norrie and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
World No.2 Jabeur will officially open her 2023 season at the Adelaide International 1, while Raducanu will head to Auckland, New Zealand for the return of the ASB Classic.
