Abu Dhabi: Tennis fans in the UAE will once again get to start the New Year watching some exciting action at the Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex with the world's top two, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, confirming their return to the Capitala World Tennis Championship.
Federer and Nadal, along with world No 7 Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, world No 8 Nikolay Davydenko, world No 9 Fernando Verdasco and world No 11 Robin Soderling will battle it out for the winner-takes-all $250,000 (Dh918,342) in the three-day event which starts on December 31 and ends on January 2.
Addressing a press conference here yesterday, John Lickrish, Managing Director of Flash Entertainment, the event managers, said: "Six of the world's top 11 players will be seen in action. This year, we will also have a third-place match as per the request of the players."
Haeng Fine Wong, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Capitala, said: "The inaugural edition was a tremendous success and helped raise the profile of tennis in the UAE."
Healthy lifestyle
"Apart from the Capitala Community Cup, a number of community events are held across the capital and Dubai encouraging those of all ages, nationalities and abilities to get involved in the sport of tennis. The Capitala Tennis in Schools Programme also aims to educate children on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle whilst promoting the sport of tennis," he added.
Greg Sproule, Managing Director, IMG Middle East, who are event partners with Flash, said: "With six of the world's top 11 players taking part, the event will showcase its award-winning pedigree. It is almost like a Grand Slam field. It is almost like a quarterfinal line-up at a Grand Slam event."
Andy Murray, who won a marathon final against then world No 1 Nadal to win the inaugural Capitala event, has decided to skip this event. Organisers said the British No 1 was concentrating on the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, and had decided to go straight there without coming to the region.
Daily tickets for the 5,000-capacity stadium here have been priced from Dh65 onwards while the three-day season tickets cost upwards of Dh300.
