Dubai: A day after bagging the coveted “Best ATP 500” award for a record 10th time in the past eleven years, Tournament Director Salah Tahlak has promised the annual tennis event will grow in tandem with the progress of Dubai.
The ATP announced the Tournaments of the Year in the 2013 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon, with repeat winners the Shanghai Rolex Masters and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships joined by newcomer the Aegon Championships as the most favoured ATP World Tour events in their respective tournament categories on court late on Tuesday.
The Tournament of the Year awards are voted annually by ATP players in recognition of the leading standards set across the three tournament categories on the Tour.
The Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open was presented with the ‘Best ATP 500’ event award by Alison Lee, Executive Vice President, ATP World Tour in the presence of Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman, Dubai Duty Free, Tournament Director Salah Tahlak and four-time champion Novak Djokovic.
Encouragement
“We’ve certainly raised the bar with this tournament. I believe we have set a high standard that will be difficult to beat for a long time. This is certainly not by chance but by the encouragement from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and the patron of our tournament, who has always told us to aim for number one,” Tahlak told Gulf News.
Tahlak has been associated with the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships from its inception in 1993, and it was just a decade ago that he took over as its tournament director. “This is certainly what I envisaged for this tournament when I took over,” he related.
“For me and my team of more than 700 Duty Free employees led by our bosses Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation [and Chairman and CEO of Emirates airline and Group], and Chairman of Dubai Duty Free and Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman, Dubai Duty Free. We will continue making this tournament grow along with the progress being made by Dubai,” he added.
