Dubai: Organisers of the popular Barclays Dubai Tennis Champiosnships have refrained from a ticket price increase in an attempt to give quality action to fans in the UAE.
"During the course of our meeting, it did surface whether we should be hiking the ticket prices considering the quality of the field we have attracted this year.
"But after considering the worldwide economic situation and the fact that we should not compromise on the quality, we decided to drop this idea," Tournament Director Salah Tahlak told Gulf News.
This year's two-week long Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships will get under way with all top ten women taking part in the WTA Premier 5 competition from February 15. The men's tournament, an ATP 500 event with at least six of the top-10 players, will be held from February 22.
Tickets for the two-week tennis bonanza went on sale on Sunday and were immediately sold out. "That we were sold off completely on the very first day is a fantastic statement for the tournament. But it also pains us that many tennis fans are not in a position to get tickets," he added.
According to sources, less than 50 per cent of the free seating grand stand tickets are put out on sale each year.
