The Dubai Tennis Championship have come a long way from their modest beginnings in 1993.
Held in the week after the Australian Open, the tournament could not tempt any of the men’s Top 15 players to make the trip despite a lucrative prize purse of $1 million. The Australian Open, by comparison, had disbursed $1,942,170 in prize money among the men that year.
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The top seed that year was Russian Alexander Volkov, the world No17 at the time, while the second seed was No18 Thomas Muster of Austria. Neither, however, made it to the final, where Karel Novacek, the world No23 at the time, defeated No39 Fabrice Santoro for the title.
“I remember we had built a temporary stadium, a scaffolding stadium, and as people walked up and down, the boards creaked,” Colm McLoughlin, the executive vice chairman of Dubai Duty Free, the organisers of the tournament, said in an interview with The National two years back.
McLoughlin, a great raconteur, will surely be reminiscing again when the top players of the ATP return to Dubai for what will be the silver jubilee of the tournament between February 27 and March 4.
The world No1 Andy Murray will be here, and so will Stan Wawrinka, the defending champion and world No3. But, no offence to those first two, the greatest buzz at the Aviation Club will surround the return of Dubai resident Roger Federer, who skipped the tournament last year because of injury.
A seven-time Dubai champion, Federer will be returning as a reigning grand slam champ following his fairy tale fortnight in Australia and McLoughlin will have more than a few tales to share from the Swiss’ 12 previous appearances in the tournament.
That “match” between Federer and Agassi on top of the Burj Al Arab helipad will surely be a part of the recollection, as will many of his memorable duels – the first round win over Marat Safin in 2004, the 2005 semi-final against Agassi, and the electrifying 2006 final between him and Rafael Nadal, which gave a glimpse into the fabled rivalry that was to follow. His loss to Murray, the No11 at the time, in the 2008 first round should make the list as well, along with that stunning fightback from a set down to win the 2014 semi-final against Novak Djokovic.
No player has had a greater impact on the tournament than Federer and his fans will be hoping for something special again to make this Dubai silver jubilee a special one.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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