# 2003 Dubai Tennis Championships – Singles

Fabrice Santoro was the defending champion but lost in the second round to Sjeng Schalken.
Roger Federer won in the final 6–1, 7–6$^{(7–2)}$against Jiří Novák. He did not lose a single set in the entire tournament.

## Seeds

A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.
* Roger Federer (champion)
* Marat Safin (second round)
* Jiří Novák (final)
* Tim Henman (first round)
* Rainer Schüttler (quarterfinals)
* Sjeng Schalken (quarterfinals)
* Younes El Aynaoui (second round)
* Yevgeny Kafelnikov (second round)

## Draw
### Key

* Q = Qualifier
* WC = Wild card
* LL = Lucky loser
* Alt = Alternate
* SE = Special exempt
* PR = Protected ranking
* ITF = ITF entry
* JE = Junior exempt
* w/o = Walkover
* r = Retired
* d = Defaulted
* SR = Special ranking
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | R Federer | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | I Labadze | 3 | 3 | | 1 | R Federer | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | M Abel | 0 | | | Q | M Abel | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | I Heuberger | 1$^r$ | | | | | | | | 1 | R Federer | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| WC | H Arazi | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | WC | H Arazi | 5 | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| | J Vacek | 2 | 1 | | WC | H Arazi | 6 | 4 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | J van Lottum | 2 | 6 | 3 | 8 | Y Kafelnikov | 4 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Y Kafelnikov | 6 | 4 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | R Federer | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| 4 | T Henman | 7 | 6$^3$ | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | I Ljubičić | 3 | 2 | | | | |
| | A Sávolt | 5 | 7$^7$ | 6 | | A Sávolt | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | W Black | 5 | 3 | | | I Ljubičić | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | I Ljubičić | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | I Ljubičić | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | A Voinea | 4 | 2 | | | | | | | 5 | R Schüttler | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| | M Mirnyi | 6 | 6 | | | M Mirnyi | 6$^6$ | 6 | 6$^8$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Ž Krajan | 4 | 6 | 3 | 5 | R Schüttler | 7$^8$ | 4 | 7$^{10}$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | R Schüttler | 6 | 2 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Roger Federer | 6 | 7$^7$ |
| 6 | S Schalken | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Jiří Novák | 1 | 6$^2$ |
| | M Youzhny | 5 | 0 | | 6 | S Schalken | 3 | 7$^7$ | 7$^7$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | F Santoro | 6$^1$ | 6 | 6 | | F Santoro | 6 | 6$^2$ | 6$^5$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | S Koubek | 7$^7$ | 2 | 0 | | | | | | 6 | S Schalken | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| WC | G Ivanišević | 6$^r$ | | | | | | | | 3 | J Novák | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | A Stoliarov | 6 | | | Q | A Stoliarov | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | D Hrbatý | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | J Novák | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | J Novák | 6 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | J Novák | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| 7 | Y El Aynaoui | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | T Robredo | 4 | 1 | | | | |
| WC | O Bahrouzyan | 0 | 3 | | 7 | Y El Aynaoui | 6$^2$ | 6$^5$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | V Kutsenko | 6$^5$ | 2 | | | F López | 7$^7$ | 7$^7$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | F López | 7$^7$ | 6 | | | | | | | | F López | 7$^7$ | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| | J Björkman | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | T Robredo | 6$^4$ | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | T Robredo | 6 | 6 | | | T Robredo | 7 | 4 | 7$^7$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | A Waske | 4 | 2 | | 2 | M Safin | 5 | 6 | 6$^3$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | M Safin | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |