February 2025
The second month of the year was monopolised by tennis – I began February in the UAE and ended it in Mexico!
I was joined by Chanda in UAE for the (*takes a deep breath*) Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council – a name so ridiculously long that we had to shorten it to make it legible on our graphics. I can’t say I was enthusiastic about travelling to this part of the world, but on the (very) bright side, the weather was a stark improvement on what I’d left at home – I think I saw one cloud all week! Chanda told me that last year’s tournament was delayed due to a rainstorm, but even after seeing video evidence I couldn’t quite believe it. If anything, Mexico was even sunnier and came with the added bonus of a pool on the hotel roof, which I made good use of during my stay.
In Abu Dhabi, Swiss Miss Belinda Bencic won her second M.A.D.O.P.B.A.D.S.C. title from two visits (#undefeated), while world number 10 Emma Navarro made the most of a depleted field in Merida to win the biggest title of her career; she faced Colombian world number 133 Emiliana Arango who’d come all the way through qualifying to reach her first WTA final, but 55 minutes and two bagels later, it was all over.
Both jobs went so smoothly as to be unremarkable, and sadly both locations weren’t much to write home about either. I didn’t try too hard to sightsee in Abu Dhabi but the few attempts I made in Merida yielded nothing, which was doubly disappointing given the very light workload. There were potentially better options further afield, but I opted to kick it by the pool instead…gotta save some energy for work!