February 21, 2017 – DUBAI, UAE:  Ekaterina Makarova pulled off the biggest upset so far at this year's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships by stunning third seed and WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 4-6 6-2. There were ominous signs perhaps for Cibulkova after she saw the draw and who her first opponent would be, as she had only recently fallen to Makarova at the Australian Open. She was also aware that she had failed to win any of her previous three matches in Dubai.

'I was serving really good. In the important moments, I had good returns,' said Makarova, a Dubai quarter-finalist two years ago when she lost narrowly to eventual champion Simona Halep. 'When I'm kind of staying close to the baseline, I play much more aggressive than when I'm coming back a little bit.'

Her victory in Melbourne was also still fresh in her mind and provided inspiration that she could come through once more against a very difficult and tenacious opponent.

'Well, it helped a lot, of course, because I never beat her before (Melbourne),' she said. 'So this match, when I was coming out and I kind of more believing that I can win, and I knew what to do, how to play, where to go. Yeah, I was kind of staying until the end and believing that I can beat her. It was a little bit up and down in the second set. But then I just tried to forget all games, all bad points, and just try to hit and play my game.'

Olympic champion Monica Puig has struggled a little in trying to live up to her status as a gold medalist, but received another confidence booster as she dismissed 15th seed Caroline Garcia 6-1 4-6 6-2. Eighth seed Elena Vesnina was untroubled as she defeated Misaki Doi 6-2 7-5, Catherine Bellis beat Laura Siegemund 7-5 7-6 (3) and Qiang Wang ended the run of Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur 6-3 6-1.

'We congratulate Ekaterina Makarova on her fine victory,' said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, the tournament owners and organisers. 'Her great success in doubles, in which she has reached the final of all four Grand Slams and won two titles, has often overshadowed what a fine singles player she is. We look forward to seeing how she fares during the rest of the week.

Tournament director Salah Tahlak added, 'Once again the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is providing upsets and surprises. With several top 10 players still in the draw it will be interesting to see if any other top players will fall victim to their ambitious opponents in the days ahead.'

Play in the WTA event continues until 25th February, and the tournament continues between 27th February and 4th March with the 25th staging of the ATP World Tour event which includes Wimbledon, Olympic and ATP World Tour Finals champion and world number one Andy Murray, Australian Open champion and seven-time Dubai winner Roger Federer, defending Dubai champion Stan Wawrinka, two-time Dubai finalist Tomas Berdych and the entertaining Gael Monfils.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is owned and 'organised by Dubai Duty Free, and held under the patronage of H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Tickets for every day of the event including the finals are still available from the Box Office at the Dubai Tennis Stadium, Garhoud which opens from 9am to 9pm daily.