Dubai continues to make history

Dubai: Dubai will once again figure prominently in the "tennis history books" after Andy Murray and Igor Kunitsyn played one of the longest games in the Open era of the sport.

Murray and his Russian opponent slugged it out for 24 minutes and 30 seconds before the Scot broke Kunitsyn and made it 2-0 in the first set of their opening round match of the 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Monday night's game involved 14 deuces and nine break points, while the longest known games lasting 31 minutes was one of 37 deuces and 80 break points way back on May 26, 1975 between Anthony Fawcett of South Africa and Great Britain's Keith Glass in the first round of the Surrey, Great Britain Championships at Surbiton, Surrey.

However, the Surrey tournament held on grass to allow early exits from the French Open time to practice ahead of Wimbledon, was not an official event on the ATP Tour until as recently as 1997 when it attained a Challenger status.

The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships is an ATP World Tour 500 points event with the singles winner taking home $383,000 (Dh1.4 million)

"The best things continue happening in Dubai. We lost Federer, Nadal and Roddick, but that match between Murray and Kunitsyn was like a final. This means we are assured of a great week ahead of tennis," said Tournament Director Salah Tahlak.