Dubai: Defending champion Novak Djokovic and five-time winner Roger Federer were drawn to clash in the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships when the draw was made on Saturday.
Top seeded Djokovic, who has won the Dubai tournament on four previous occasions, including three times in a row from 2009 to 2011, was drawn to meet Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in their opening round.
Seeded No. 4 here, Federer also figures in the upper half of the draw, and will begin his campaign this year with a tricky opening match against Germany’s Benjamin Becker.
Second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, the giant Argentine and 2009 US Open champion, who skipped the South American swing in favour of Dubai, will start his campaign with an opening round against India’s Somdev Devvarman.
Meanwhile, third seed Tomas Berdych — a losing finalist here last year and champion in Rotterdam a couple of weeks back — will be up against one of the four qualifiers.
“During the past 22 years of this tournament, we’ve had as many as 17 world number ones participating in our tournament,” Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice-Chairman, Dubai Duty Free noted before the official draw for the men’s tournament was held at the Majlis of the Dubai Tennis Stadium, on Saturday.
“This tournament has been voted by the players as the best 500 ATP event for the past nine years and we are keeping our fingers crossed for a record tenth,” he added.
“We have two of the greatest men who have ever played the game once again competing here at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Their semi-final would be one to savour, but the field here is so strong that neither are guaranteed their place in the final four.
“Djokovic could well meet Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round, a player who produced one of the biggest upsets at the recent Australian Open when he beat our number two seed, Juan Martin del Potro, and Federer could meet the wily Radek Stepanek, who has played a pivotal role in the Czech Republic winning the Davis Cup for the past two years.”
Tournament Director Salah Tahlak announced Arab’s top player Malek Jaziri of Tunisia, Indian Devvarman and Great Britain’s James Ward as the three wild cards in the main draw of the competition.
“We look at various criteria like their rankings and how they have been playing before making a decision on the wild cards. We believe that these three players will be good for our tournament,” Tahlak said.
Fifth seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is also expected to do well here and he will take on Romanian Victor Hanescu in their opening round.
Now in its 22nd year, the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open has attracted five of the top ten men.
Sunday will be the final qualifying round to decide which four advance to the main draw, while the main competition will begin at 2pm on Monday.
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is owned and operated by Dubai Duty Free and held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
For further information about tickets, prices and the tournament, visit www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com or phone the call centre on +971 4 4172415.
