Sport | Tennis
1998 draw justified all-Spanish final
There were 11 Spaniards in the fray
- Staff Report
- Published: 00:00 February 6, 2012
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archives
- Alex Corretja displays the 1998 Dubai Duty Free Championships trophy after defeating Felix Mantilla.
Dubai: The 1998 final of the Dubai Championships was an all-Spanish affair with Alex Corretja beating Felix Mantilla 7-6, 6-1.
The match was well contested until the tiebreak, at which Mantilla didn't win any point and fell away badly in the second set.
The chance of there being an all-Spanish final was high that year, as 11 Spanish players made the main draw. One of them was Carlos Moya.
He dismissed Goran Ivanisevic in the first round and then fellow Spaniard Albert Costa in the second before going out in the quarters to Jonas Bjorkman.
Top seeded Bjorkman lost in straight sets to Corretja. Marcelo Rios, seeded two, got no further than the first round, suffering a shock exit to Brett Steven. Another big name failed to live up to his reputation as third seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov — much to the delight of local tennis fans — fell in the first round to Morocco's Hesham Arazi. Boris Becker returned, but this time he suffered a pulled stomach muscle and had to default his second round match against Mantilla.
Doubles top seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes thrilled the huge Indian expat community by bagging the title, defeating Don Johnson and Francisco Montana.
Multimedia
Sport Editor's choice
-
Time for innovation, not controversies
Only transparency and fine-tuning can take the event a step further
-
Celebrating a tradition of the seas
The race over 51 nautical miles brings generations of families together, soaking in the spirit and atmosphere of a bygone era. An era that could have been lost forever.
-
Kings of Asian Futsal are the team to beat
Strong iran squad target afc title in 16-team competition which begins in dubai today
