Dubai: How does one quantify the influence, direct or otherwise, that a man of Roger Federer’s calibre has on other players and their life choices?
Ask French youngster Lucas Pouille and he will gush about the fact that it was the Swiss legend who has had a distinct bearing on him choosing Dubai as his residence.
The story goes back a few years when Federer requested Pouille to accompany him as a hitting partner during his training ritual in Dubai. It was for one week but that was time enough to get Pouille hooked on to Dubai, while also hopefully improving his tennis hitting with the Swiss ace on the other side of the net.
“The first time I came to Dubai was with Roger [Federer]. He invited me in 2014 or 2015, I don’t remember, before the tournament. We practised one week. One morning we were walking with my coach and I told him ‘I feel good here. The atmosphere is good and practice is very nice. The weather is amazing compared to Paris’,” Pouille said.
“I was looking for somewhere to practice during winter especially. So I said, ‘Okay, why not Dubai?’ You could come in November or December to practice. That could be my base. And it was then that I decided on Dubai,” he added. There were, of course, the fringe benefits as well like the tax benefits.
Monday’s ATP rankings will see the 24-year-old Pouille enjoy his best when he breaks into the top-10 for the first time-ever. The youngster enjoyed a sensational rise in 2016, rocketing up the rankings from as low as 91 in February 2015, to his current position at No. 15.
One of 11 Frenchmen ranked in the top-100, Pouille is the youngest of the bunch and his exploits this year have come when the rest of his countrymen such as Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon are elder to him and have not exactly been able to match his feats. Pouille had a blistering start to 2018 with a win at Montpellier followed by a second final — where he lost to Karen Khachanov last weekend in Rotterdam.
A win on Saturday will see him at least at an all time career high of No. 8, while the 300 points from the runners-up spot will pull him into No. 10.