Jessica Pegula has a very happy birthday in Dubai.

Carlos Alcaraz zooms into his 26th career ATP title.

And, Sebastian Korda and Flavio Cobolli did WHAT?!?!

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🏆 And Many Mooooore! Jessica Pegula claims the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a snappy 6-2, 6-4 win over Elina Svitolina. The victory gives the American her 10th WTA title, fourth WTA 1000 crown, and first outside North American hard courts. Oh! And did I mention it was Jessie's 32nd birthday on Tuesday?

🔥 Carlos Clears Carlos Alcaraz races past Arthur Fils, 6-2, 6-1, in the Doha final to collect his 26th career title and 9th ATP 500 crown. The 50-minute rout extends his outdoor hard-court winning streak to 30 matches. Since April 2025 he's played 13 tournaments, reached 12 finals, and won 9 titles. Insanity.

💕 Reunited and It Feels So Gooooooood Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani take the Dubai doubles title, defeating Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva, 6-1, 6-3. The pair split after 2022 and came back together for 2026 after their respective partnerships dissolved. Dabrowski, a breast cancer survivor, dedicates the win to her best friend's father who is battling cancer. She rises to a career-high world #2 in doubles.

💪 King Arthur Returns Arthur Fils may have fallen in the Doha final, but the scoreline misses the story. The 20yo Frenchman reaches a tour-level final for the first time since Tokyo 2024 after 8 months sidelined by a serious back injury. Very promising to see Fils have such a great week so early in his comeback.

🎾 Excuse Me? An amusing post-match moment for Sebastian Korda in Delray Beach after defeating Flavio Cobolli, 7-6¹, 6-1 to reach the final. On-court emcee Michelle Yu, meaning to ask Korda what it was like to have SUCCESS against the Italian three times, accidentally swaps the word "success" with "sex." Korda's bemused response; "He's a good looking guy, so you know..."

🌧️ Rain in Rio Persistent rain pushes both Rio Open semifinals to Sunday, setting up a marathon day at Quadra Guga Kuerten. Vit Kopriva leads #8 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 5-4 in a suspended semifinal, while Alejandro Tabilo and Ignacio Buse haven't even started. Both singles semis, the doubles final, AND the singles final are now slated for Sunday afternoon.

🎾 A Trio of Trophy Presentations We've got not one, not two, but three WTA 125 finals on Sunday. In Oeiras, #1 seed Viktorija Golubic faces #5 seed Daria Snigur. In Les Sables d'Olonne, #8 seed Dominika Salkova is the lone remaining seed and meets unseeded Andrea Lazaro Garcia of Spain. And, in Midland, Guo Hanyu takes on #5 seed Alina Charaeva for the title.

👀 The Sultanate Swing With Jessie Pegula's win in Dubai, the WTA Middle East swing is done and dusted for 2026. Karolina Muchova won Doha for her first WTA 1000 title. Victoria Mboko, the 19yo Canadian, cracked the Top 10 after reaching the final in Doha. Sara Bejlek won 7 matches in 8 days to lift her first WTA title in Abu Dhabi. And, Vera Zvonareva impressed in singles and doubles across multiple stops... at the age of 41.

🎓 Spartan Spirit In his piece for Tennis.com, Takashi Williams profiles Matthew Forbes, the 19yo Michigan State sophomore who became the first active Spartan to compete at the US Open last year, pushing former top 50 Roman Safiullin to a 2nd-set tiebreak at 18yo. His brother Luke was diagnosed with leukemia at 15. His sister Abbey won 2019 Wimbledon girls' doubles and the 2023 NCAA title. A tennis family with layers.

💰 Agassi Holds Court In his feature for Clay Tennis, Danny Miche sits down with Andre Agassi in Rio, where the 8-time slam champion points to appearance fees (reportedly $1.2M for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in Doha) as evidence the sport has "only grown." Agassi also questions whether South America should abandon clay to compete with Middle Eastern events.

"I couldn't ask for a better birthday present. I'm just super proud of myself." - Jessica Pegula on winning Dubai ¹

"It is a pleasure to share the court with you, man, truly. It makes me really happy to see you on the court once again. I know you've struggled physically, struggled with injury, and I've been through that." - Carlos Alcaraz on Arthur Fils ²

"It's been eight long months with my injury. You just have to think about the last eight months when I was struggling." - Arthur Fils on his comeback ³

"Rankings, they come, they go - I'm more interested in just having a great partnership." - Gabriela Dabrowski on her doubles reunion ⁴

"I feel like the sport could use more people that look like me, for sure. Ben Shelton, Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe... we all bring a fire that I think tennis was missing for like 10 years." - Matthew Forbes on representation in tennis ⁵

"Even though my ranking is where it is right now, I still feel very new on the tour." - Iva Jovic on life as a Top 20 player ⁶

RIO ATP 500 - Semifinals

◆ Tomas Martin Etcheverry (8) vs. Vit Kopriva

◆ Ignacio Buse vs. Alejandro Tabilo

RIO ATP 500 - Final

◆ TBD

DELRAY BEACH ATP 250 - Final

◆ Tommy Paul (5) vs. Sebastian Korda

OEIRAS WTA 125 - Final

◆ Viktorija Golubic (1) vs. Daria Snigur (5)

LES SABLES D'OLONNE WTA 125 - Final

◆ Dominika Salkova (8) vs. Andrea Lazaro Garcia

MIDLAND WTA 125 - Final

◆ Alina Charaeva (5) vs. Guo Hanyu

LILLE CH125 - Final

◆ Alexander Blockx (4) vs. Luca Van Assche (7)

DELHI CH75 - Final

◆ Oliver Crawford (5) vs. Stefanos Sakellaridis

METEPEC CH75 - Final

◆ Alexis Galarneau (4) vs. Borna Gojo (5)

AAT CHALLENGER TIGRE I CH50 - Final

◆ Lautaro Midón (5) vs. Guido Ivan Justo

¹ WTA Tennis. "Jessica Pegula Wins Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships." WTA Official, February 21, 2026.

² Coombe, Jerome. "Alcaraz Claims Qatar ExxonMobil Open Title." ATP Tour, February 21, 2026.

³ Encabo, Nacho. "Alcaraz Dominates Fils in Doha Final." Clay Tennis, February 21, 2026.

⁴ WTA Tennis. "Dabrowski/Stefani Win Dubai Doubles Title." WTA Official, February 21, 2026.

⁵ Williams, Takashi. "Matthew Forbes Profile." Tennis.com, February 21, 2026.

⁶ Macpherson, Alex. "Iva Jovic's Journey to the Top 20." WTA Official, February 16, 2026.

Additional Sources

Addicott, Adam. "Pegula Claims Dubai Title." Ubitennis, February 21, 2026.

Berkok, John. "Alcaraz Wins Doha." Tennis.com, February 21, 2026.

ATP Tour. "Korda, Paul Set Up All-American Delray Beach Final." ATP Tour, February 21, 2026.

ATP Tour. "Rio Open Semifinals Postponed Due to Rain." ATP Tour, February 21, 2026.

Miche, Danny. "Andre Agassi on Tennis Economics." Clay Tennis, February 21, 2026.