TOURNAMENT REPORT:
DUBAI DUTY FREE
MEN'S OPEN 2005
Other reports
Deutsche Version Version espanola
Version francaise
This may not be reproduced in part, or in full
We arrived in Dubai on Friday 18th February very early in the morning after an overnight flight from Australia. It was my first time in Dubai, so I was really excited to be there and we were staying at the official player hotel, which made it even better! We made it down to breakfast that morning, albeit bleary-eyed and tired, and saw a few of the players who were already in Dubai, such as Sargsian, Robredo and Kiefer. After that, we just relaxed for a while before going out to do some sightseeing.

On Saturday, there was also not much to report tennis-wise, as many players were still yet to arrive and we were out most of the day sightseeing. However, in the morning at breakfast, we did see one of the coaches of Juan Carlos Ferrero, whom we had met in Melbourne and he was very friendly as usual. That night in the hotel, we saw Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco going out for dinner and I also talked for a while to Sargis Sargsian. He is also a great guy. I hadn't spoken to him since the Stuttgart tournament in 2003, but he seemed to remember me! I can fully understand why he has been nominated for the 2004 ATP Sportsman of the Year award because he is a genuinely nice person.

Sunday morning there was more life in the breakfast room, as more and more of the players were arriving. We met Peter Lundgren (Marat Safin's coach), whom we have now got to know quite well, and he was just as jovial as ever. He was there with his wife and 2 children. Before that, Juan Carlos Ferrero had been in too with his coaches, father and girlfriend, Patricia. Juan Carlos is another nice person. Ever since I met him in Bangkok 2003 for the first time, he always says hi whenever he sees me at tournaments and it's refreshing to see that a big name player such as himself is so down to earth and unaffected by fame, because, unfortunately, not all players are like that, though the majority are very nice. I went to the tennis centre for the first time around midday and had a look around. The complex is amazing. It's very close to the airport and the official hotel and right nextdoor to the Aviation Club, so while you're sitting on Centre Court, it's not unusual to see planes taking off and landing! There is also an Irish Village with typically Irish pubs and restaurants, as well as a mini golf course! The weather was beautiful - just like a Summer's day, though funnily enough, it was actually still Winter in the United Arab Emirates, where their "Winters" are around 25 degrees celsius and their Summers nudge 50 degrees celsius. I can see why they hold the tournament in February! I went to watch the qualifying match between Sargis Sargsian and Vladimir Voltchkov and then after a while went over to Centre Court where Marat was practising topless with Tim Henman. Needless to say, I stayed a while! Marat seemed in a very happy, relaxed mood and joked around a lot with Tim. At one stage, he randomly yelled out to him, "whom do you prefer? Beckham or Agassi?"!!! After one hour, Tim left but Marat stayed on for a further one hour and practised with Robin Soderling. I stayed on and was joined by a friend of mine. Marat seemed to have lost some of that earler sparkle (I think he was getting tired) and at one stage smashed his raquet on the ground after missing what seemed like his 100th consecutive volley! Robin laughed and so did Olivier Rochus, who was also sitting on the court waiting to start his practice. After Marat finished, he sat for a while on the bench and talked to Ollie while he was practising. He was again joking around, asking Olivier what his ranking was etc. We then decided to head back to the hotel.

We went down for breakfast as usual on Monday morning and saw pretty much everyone. Juan Carlos again said hi and I said hi to Tommy Robredo's coach, Mariano,  who was also very polite as usual. The only players that never came to breakfast were Marat Safin, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi. They were not staying at the player hotel, but rather at the Burj Al Arab, the world's only 7 star hotel, located on its own island just off the luxurious Jumeirah Beach! (You may have seen footage of Roger and Andre playing tennis on the helipad of the hotel). Later on, we went out to the tennis centre where 3 of the 4 Spanish players were due to be playing. The first match on Centre Court was Tommy Robredo against Olivier Rochus, so we went to see that. I had anticipated a close match, as Rochus is a tough customer, and Tommy was playing his first tournament since the Australian Open after being sidelined with a shoulder injury. However, it didn't look like it was going to be close after Tommy raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set. Ollie somehow fought his way back and forced it to a tie-break, which Tommy won 7-5. Tommy also had a break in the second set, but Ollie was again able to level and take it to another tie-break. It was close, but Tommy won it 8-6. After that was Juan Carlos' match against Florian Mayer of Germany. I really hoped Juan Carlos would win and, luckily, he ended up doing so quite easily 6-3 6-4. I was happy to see him playing so well again. While that match had been on, Fernando Verdasco had been playing Vladimir Voltchkov on another court. I had wanted to see him too, but hadn't wanted to leave Juan Carlos' match. Fernando also won though, ending what had been a great day for the Spaniards. Now it was just up to Feliciano Lopez, who was playing the next day. That night when I went out for dinner, I saw Juan Carlos and his entourage in the restaurant too and later, when I went back to the hotel, Tommy Robredo and his 2 coaches were in the lobby engrossed in playing some kind of boardgame. I headed off to bed as it was quite late.

Tuesday morning at breakfast, we again spoke to Peter Lundgren and most of the other players came down at some stage too. We went to the tennis centre at 2pm to see Feliciano Lopez's match against Paradorn Srichaphan on Centre Court. Feli played very well in the first set and won it 6-2. He had a slight lapse in the second, losing it 3-6, but in the third, Paradorn seemed a bit under the weather and Feli was able to close out the match 6-3. Fernando Verdasco, his close friend. had been there to cheer him on the whole time. Feli would now have the daunting task of facing Andre Agassi in the second round. After that, I walked around a bit and saw Florian Mayer practising with Tommy Robredo. I stayed a few minutes to watch that and then went back to the hotel to freshen up. The night match starting at 7pm was between Marat Safin and Nicolas Kiefer. It was always going to be a tough first round for Marat, though one would still have expected the number 2 seed to prevail. However, right from the outset, Kiefer looked the sharper of the two by far. Marat appeared sluggish and frustrated, nothing like the jovial mood he'd been in during his practice 2 days before. He held on for a first set tie-break but was unable to win it, losing it 2-7. The second set was no better - he was broken in the very first game. He was making lots of unforced errors and grumbling at Peter, who was watching on tensely from the stands. Marat then lost his serve again, though did manage to get one break back after a while. In the end, he lost it 4-6 - undoubtedly a huge disappointment for tournament organisers. However, Kiefer most definitely deserved to win, as Marat really did play very ordinarily. It had been nothing like his stellar display just a few weeks before in Melbourne. But then again, you never know which Marat is going to come onto the court on any given day, and tonight, it certainly had not been the Australian Open champion. At least he would still be around for his doubles, which were scheduled for the following day. We then stayed for the opening games of the all-British battle between Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, before heading back to the hotel. I thought it would be quiet in the lobby, since the player party was on at the tennis centre, but Tommy and his coaches were again sitting and playing their boardgame and Juan Carlos was with his coach, father and Patricia watching the Henman/Rusedski match on a large TV screen! We also spoke briefly to Feliciano Lopez, who was heading out, and he was very friendly. I then hung around to watch the last few games of the match on TV, which Henman won 6-4 in the third, before heading off upstairs to bed.
Next page
1