Tennis X F1: Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka lead 5 huge stars at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Oli Dickson Jefford 09 Dec 2024 12:08 PM

Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner, and Elena Rybakina at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Tennis never seems too far away from Formula 1 these days, with an array of stars popping up at some of the biggest races in the world.

Serena and Venus Williams often attend the Miami Grand Prix, while Novak Djokovic was at the Qatar Grand Prix just a week before starting his pre-season.

And it is fair to say that Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix brought together the biggest and brightest stars of the two sports, with some of the world’s best tennis stars watching on at the F1 season finale.

We look at five of the biggest names watching on – including two world No 1’s.

Jannik Sinner

Reigning ATP world No 1 Sinner was one of the off-track star attractions in Abu Dhabi, with the reigning Australian and US Open champion waving the chequered flag at the end of the race.

The Italian was also pictured with four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen pre-race, with the Dutchman equally as dominant in recent years as Sinner has been in 2024.

Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka has become a frequent fixture on the F1 grid throughout 2024.

The WTA world No 1 was trackside at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May – less than 24 hours after the Italian Open final – and then returned to the grid in Abu Dhabi.

Sabalenka proved a huge hit online after dancing with Team Alpine mechanics on TikTok earlier in the weekend, before watching the race on Sunday.

Aryna Sabalenka in the Alpine garage for the Abu Dhabi GP

@AlpineF1Team pic.twitter.com/VefjKVA4sw

— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) December 8, 2024

Elena Rybakina

Former Wimbledon champion and current world No 6 Rybakina is based in the Middle East – and won the WTA 500 event held in Abu Dhabi back in February.

The Kazakh was a special guest of Red Bull at the Grand Prix and was seen in the team garage pre-race, as well as taking part in the on-track procession pre-race.

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Grigor Dimitrov

Top-10 star and former world No 3 Dimitrov was a special guest of McLaren in Abu Dhabi and got to watch on as the team won the constructors title for the first time since 1998.

The Bulgarian was snapped on the grid with team CEO Zak Brown, while he was also spotted taking a selfie with actress Eva Longoria pre-race.

Paula Badosa

Badosa was one of the resurgent stars of 2024, with the Spaniard returning to the top 15 of the WTA Rankings after falling outside the top 100 at one stage.

And the former world No 2 was a guest of Aston Martin at the F1 2024 finale, taking a picture alongside former world champion and compatriot Fernando Alonso.