Serves us right!

If you want excitement and unpredictability, combined with watching many of the greatest sports stars in the world, then the Dubai Tennis Championships fits the bill every time.

Seeing up-close the stars you usually only see competing on television is always special, and nearly every household name has taken part in the tournament since it began 15 years ago.

Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Goran Ivanisevic, Tim Henman, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Justine Henin, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo ..... the cast of champions goes on and on.

No wonder that a record 125,000 spectators flocked to the Dubai Tennis Stadium for the 2006 event, eclipsing all previous records.

And no-one was disappointed as Rafael Nadal came from behind to claim a dramatic victory over defending champion Roger Federer, and Justine Henin maintained her three-year unbeaten record in Dubai by holding off the glamorous Maria Sharapova to lay claim to the title once again.

The event has thrown up many dramatic moments, with perhaps Fabrice Santoro's win over Younes Al Aynaoui in the 2002 final heading the list.

The Frenchman had also reached the final 10 years earlier in the inaugural Dubai Tennis Championships, losing to Karel Novacek, but unknown to spectators at the time he almost failed to take the court against Al Aynaoui.

Santoro was suffering from a severe flu virus and was in a wheelchair at a local hospital just two hours before he was due to walk on court. And against all the odds he claimed a three-set victory.

One of the biggest upsets came last year when unheralded Bjorn Phau of Germany surprised tennis legend Andre Agassi in the second round. A year before, Indian sensation Sania Mirza had a packed stadium rocking as she trounced reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets.

But one of the biggest shocks in the rich history of the tournament came in 2004 before a ball had even been hit, when Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director of tournament organisers Dubai Duty Free, pulled out the name of recent Australian Open finalist Marat Safin to face top seed Roger Federer in the first round. For the record, Federer won 7-6, 7-6.

In 2006 it was announced that the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open would pay out $1,500,000 million in prize money in 2007, an amount matching the total prize money of the ATP's Dubai Duty Free Men's Open.

"In 2005 Dubai Duty Free increased the prize money from $600,000 to $1,000,000, making this tournament one of the very few outside the Grand Slams to have equal prize money," said McLoughlin.

"As part of our commitment to recognise the equal drawing power of the women's game we were happy to announce this further increase of $500,000 for 2007, which will place the DDF Women's Open on an equal level with the DDF Men's Open." The announcement was welcomed by 2006 champion Justine Henin.

"It's terrific that Dubai Duty Free are doing this for the sport. Dubai has always treated the players very special, and this is another special way of showing it to the players on the WTA Tour. I'm proud that they value women's tennis as much as men's here," said Henin.