'Dream final' could be reality at third attempt

Federer and Nadal come to the Mubadala World Tennis Championship at top of their games and organisers are hoping it will third time to lucky to see the top two in the final.

Rafael Nadal is aiming for another Abu Dhabi title.

ABU DHABI // The organisers of the Mudabala World Tennis Championships are hoping that it will be third time lucky in their attempt to match up the sport's two leading players - Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer - in their New Year's Day final.

Nadal kept his half of the bargain in the opening two years of the exhibition event, the Spaniard reaching the final on both occasions, losing the first to Britain's Andy Murray but returning to triumph over Robin Soderling in the second staging of the US$250,000 (Dh 918,250) winner-takes-all tournament.

Federer, who has strong links with the UAE through his part-time Dubai residency, has failed to fulfil the wishes of his fellow expatriates here by losing his semi-final fixture on each visit.

With the world's top two having recently finished the current campaign in top form, Federer overcoming Nadal in the final of the ATP Tour play-offs in London, optimism is greater than ever that their long-standing rivalry will be resumed in the Zayed Sports City stadium on January 1.

The draw for the six-man competition which also involves four other players from the world's top 20 - Soderling, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marcos Baghdatis - was announced yesterday at the venue.

Nadal and Federer have byes into the semi-finals.

Nadal will face either Berdych, the world No 6 from the Czech Republic, or Baghdatis, the 20th ranked Cypriot, while Federer is due to meet the winner of the opening day clash between Soderling, the fifth-ranked Swede, and Tsonga, the Frenchman who ended the season with a world ranking of 13.

All six competitors have appeared in at least one grand slam final, prompting John Lickrish, managing director of the organising company Flash Entertainment, to declare the line-up to be fitting of the final stages of any tournament.

Lickrish said: "Each player is capable of defeating whoever they are drawn against so we are set for some epic encounters.

For tennis supporters and general sports fans this is a championship that cannot be missed."

Greg Sproule, the managing director of IMG Middle East, who are running the exhibition, is expecting sell-out crowds at the Sports City's tennis complex and is urging spectators to buy their tickets early. Prices range from the cheapest seats of Dh65 on the opening day (December 30) to a top price of Dh360 for the best seats at the final..