Dubai Tennis Championships draw: Dominic Thiem and David Goffin on course for quarter-final clash

Top seed Dominic Thiem will face a qualifier in his opening assignment at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after the draw was made for the ATP 500 event on Saturday.

World No 4 Thiem and the other 15 seeded players have all been handed byes into the second round of the 48-player tournament, so the Austrian will take on the winner of a first round match between two qualifiers. The qualifying rounds will be completed on Sunday.

Thiem's first test could come in the third round against Serbian 14th seed Filip Krajinovic, while a packed section including Belgian fifth seed David Goffin, Croatian 10th seed Borna Coric, Japan's former world No 4 Kei Nishikori, and big-serving American Reilly Opelka could provide the US Open champion's quarter-final opponent.

At the opposite end of the draw, second seed Andrey Rublev will take on either Australia's Jordan Thompson or a qualifier in his first match in the second round. Should he advance, the Russian will await American Taylor Fritz or Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili in the third round.

Meanwhile, Canadian third seed Denis Shapovalov could be set for a tough second round clash against Jan-Lennard Struff if the German world No 37 gets past a qualifier in the first round.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who won the 2016 Dubai title and attended the live draw, was slated to play Australia's John Millman or a qualifier in his first match, but the Swiss announced his withdrawal just hours later.

Instead, Italy's Lorenzo Sonego was promoted to 17th seed and replaced Wawrinka in his place in the draw. Sonego's place near the top of the draw will be filled by a lucky loser.

Arguably the most exciting first round match-up sees popular Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga face local favourite Malek Jaziri of Tunisia. In more normal times, that would be an occasion that would generate a great atmosphere inside Centre Court.

This year, though, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will be held without fans in attendance as part of strict health and safety measures aimed at limiting the risk of Covid-19.

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Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

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