Dubai: A top official of the annual Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships has promised that a ‘Grand Slam-like’ field will descend on Dubai for the next edition in 2017.
“Dubai can look forward to yet another fantastic field in 2017,” Salah Tahlak, tournament director of the championship, told Gulf News after his return from WTA Finals from Singapore. The two back-to-back weeks of WTA and ATP events will be held from February 19 to March 4.
“We have always tried to assemble a quality field, be it in the men’s or the women’s competition. But next year will be even more special as there are several changes happening in the rankings and we are witnessing a shift in the sport especially with the rise of new stars,” he added.
The annual competition began with the Dubai Men’s Open in 1993 and was followed by the addition of a woman’s tournament in 2001. Over the past two decades, both tournaments have picked up several international and national awards including an unparalleled 12 ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the Year Awards, to make it a fortnight of high-class tennis.
Since 2001, the ATP upgraded the men’s tournament from a 250 level to the more prestigious 500 level competition, while the women’s event holds a WTA Premier status with a main draw of 64 players. Dubai was among the first to pledge equal prize money of $2 million (Dh7.5 million) each at both the tournaments.
“Over the years people in Dubai have been fortunate to have some of the biggest names in men’s and women’s tennis come and play here. Next year will be no different as we have already begun the process of having the best names right here,” Tahlak related.
“I cannot give you names, but you can be sure we will once again be in a position to have a Grand Slam-like field in two weeks of exciting tennis,” he added before leaving for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals that get under way in London from Sunday.
“Not only do we set the standard for tennis, but we also like to raise the bar each year. From the onset, we have always tried to make Dubai special in the world of tennis. Today, after more that two decades of being associated with the ATP and WTA tours we can proudly claim that Dubai has done its fair bit to raise the standard of the sport worldwide,” Tahlak said.
“We can also take pride in the fact that this is perhaps the only tournament that is sponsored and organised in-house by the Dubai Duty Free. Every year there are additions and innovations and next year will be no different,” he promised.
