Hamad al Janahi is still a teenager but with Davis Cup games under his belt, and with the experience of being coached in Europe, he is well placed to explain why the country's brightest young prospects have to leave the country in order to stand a chance of turning professional.
And it is in America, where he hopes to secure a four-year scholarship at the University of South Florida, in Tampa, that he has pinned his hopes of gaining the skills to make it happen.
Hamad, 19, who has made four appearances for the UAE Davis Cup team, says he should have moved at the age of 13 but he was unaware that his opportunities would be so limited in Dubai.
"I keep staying here and my level keeps going down and all the hard work I put in is for nothing," he said.
"I went to Spain in the summer and I improved a lot, and then I came back and I didn't improve, I just kept my level. I want to keep improving."
He believes Dubai is a good place to start but when players reach their teens, they need to move on.
"The thing is, our population is so low and it is hard to find people who want to play tennis," he said.
"Tennis is not a game that everyone can play. It is a game that you have to pay a lot for it, you have to work so hard and you can't keep anything on your mind and there is no social life."
But things are changing, says Eric Gottschalk, managing director of MediaPro, which manages the UAE Tennis Association.
From next month a new tennis structure will come into effect. Five circuits will be established from school age to veterans and each one must stage a minimum number of tournaments to meet the Association's criteria. Gottschalk also says a full-time national team coach will be appointed later this year.
In al Janahi's adult age group, 15 tournaments must be held to give local players a chance to compete.
"In the past the support structure was not as good as it could be," he said. "There should be more competitions, which would attract players from the GCC region to come and play."
On average, Gottschalk says, junior tennis players should play between 80 and 100 matches a season. This has not been happening in the Emirates.
Despite the changes, al Janahi is urging his father to send his sister Fatima, 14, a GCC junior champion and his brother Fahd, 11, to a tennis academy abroad.
He is recommending his younger siblings move to Florida to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, which has been around for over three decades and developed players of the calibre of Maria Sharapova and Andre Agassi.
"Next year they must leave if they want to improve," he said. "I have experience in this because I would have been much better than I am if I didn't stay here. If I left when I was 13, I would have been better."
Al Janahi also says the weather conditions make it very difficult to train at a reasonable time of the day.
"You can't play in the mornings and you can only play after 7pm, when the day is already finished," he said.
"You can't be playing and train from 7pm to midnight, it doesn't work like that. Who is going to play late at night?"
Al Janahi's move to the American college circuit is a smart move and a great opportunity, says Gottschalk, who also played in the US during his college years.
"It is the closest to professional tennis, not only are you taking care of your education but at the same time you are really training like a professional," Gottschalk said.
"For Hamad this is fantastic opportunity and I hope he becomes a better tennis player because he will still be on the national team here and he will support them very much."
Al Janahi's decision to finally move came after watching his friends on the junior international circuit improve their game after moving to America.
He applied to several American universities and was accepted at the Florida University where he will play under head coach Don Barr.
For the first semester, he will practice with the 16-man squad and will then wait to find out if he has been selected as one of the final eight players to compete for the university in the league.
If he does, it means he will have a four-year scholarship to play and study, and if not, he says there are plenty of other options across the US.
"Every two weeks you play a tournament in other parts of America," he said.
"It will be nice because you're part of a professional team with coaches and trainers. That's what you want as a player, to be part of a team."
While he is focused on making it in the college league he hasn't forgotten about his national duties. He will be back to make his fifth appearance during next year's Davis Cup tournament.
sports@thenational.ae
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Need to know
The flights: Flydubai flies from Dubai to Kilimanjaro airport via Dar es Salaam from Dh1,619 return including taxes. The trip takes 8 hours.
The trek: Make sure that whatever tour company you select to climb Kilimanjaro, that it is a reputable one. The way to climb successfully would be with experienced guides and porters, from a company committed to quality, safety and an ethical approach to the mountain and its staff. Sonia Nazareth booked a VIP package through Safari Africa. The tour works out to $4,775 (Dh17,538) per person, based on a 4-person booking scheme, for 9 nights on the mountain (including one night before and after the trek at Arusha). The price includes all meals, a head guide, an assistant guide for every 2 trekkers, porters to carry the luggage, a cook and kitchen staff, a dining and mess tent, a sleeping tent set up for 2 persons, a chemical toilet and park entrance fees. The tiny ration of heated water provided for our bath in our makeshift private bathroom stall was the greatest luxury. A standard package, also based on a 4-person booking, works out to $3,050 (Dh11,202) per person.
When to go: You can climb Kili at any time of year, but the best months to ascend are January-February and September-October. Also good are July and August, if you’re tolerant of the colder weather that winter brings.
Do not underestimate the importance of kit. Even if you’re travelling at a relatively pleasant time, be geared up for the cold and the rain.
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPAD%20(2022)
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WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.