UAE shows marked progress

It's been more than a decade since the UAE first participated in the Davis Cup. And though it was a matter of trudging at first, the last three years has seen the country take great strides in improving its level at the international level.

After 10 years of its first entry at the Davis Cup in 1993, the UAE has notched up its best-ever showing in the ITF history annals.

The UAE is the only country in the Arab and Gulf regions, which has shown tremendous improvement in its Davis Cup performance over the past few years. The UAE has leapfrogged 16 places from 107 on the ITF's Davis Cup rankings to a creditable 91 in the last year alone.

Neighbouring Qatar (84th) and Kuwait (74th) are the only other two GCC countries showing a better performance than the UAE during the past one year on the ITF calendar.

"This progress has been made due to the discipline and commitment of all those involved in the game here," Dr Abdullah Al Nuaimi, manager of the national teams, told Gulf News.

"But, what is even more important for us, other than the results in the past few years, is that we have been able to prepare a second layer of players who are capable of taking the game to an even greater height in the future," Dr Al Nuaimi stated.

The ITF launched a new Davis Cup Nations Ranking at the end of 2001 to allow countries to compare their performance against others. France currently leads the rankings with 34,250 points followed by Russia in second with 26,715 points and Australia in third with 22,875 points.

Among Arab countries, Morocco is at the top in 27th place, followed by Lebanon (52nd), Egypt (70th), Kuwait (74th), Tunisia (84th), Qatar (84th) and UAE (91st).

The tennis official, also a member of the board of directors of Tennis Emirates, further observed that much of the success on the international stage has been achieved due to the discipline and ethics of the players.

"Discipline comes first on our list. No individual is greater than the game. Once this aspect is fully imbibed, then we know we are capable of aspiring for even greater heights," Dr Al Nuaimi added.

Meticulous planning too has played a crucial part for the game in the UAE, with Tennis Emirates lining up a series of Futures and ITF events to be held here before the end of this year.

"In addition, we have the regular tournaments at the domestic level. Combine these with the top level events and we have a good variety to see the players make progress at both levels simultaneously," Dr Al Nuaimi observed.

Despite the progress, Dr Al Nuaimi remained realistic about the goals earmarked by Tennis Emirates during their Davis Cup campaign. "I think all of us need time. The players need time and the association needs time," Dr Al Nuaimi stated.

"We need to have at least two players who are capable of competing at the Group II level. And I personally feel that we don't have these two players right now," the tennis official recounted.

"Maybe, we are capable of having a couple of such players in the next one or two years. Maybe as soon as even next year, we can aspire for Group II. But certainly not this year," Dr Al Nuaimi insisted.

The UAE is fifth in the ITF rankings among the group belong to the West Asian nations, with 25.50 points. Lebanon is ranked at the top with 245 points, while Iran is in second with 75 points. Kuwait (40) and Qatar (27.50) are in the next two places.

The UAE squad of seven probables is currently undergoing an intense training camp in Abu Dhabi, under the supervision of national team coach, Redha Bussa'ada.

"The players are being monitored and we are in the process of deciding which four will represent the country at the Davis Cup tie in Kuala Lumpur," Dr Al Nuaimi stated.

Behroozian holds an envious record among GCC players when it comes to appearances during Davis Cup ties for his country.

The UAE's top player, who first played for his country in 1996 along with Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, Othman Al Ulama and Hadi Badri, is ranked as the fourth youngest on the ITF list of Davis Cup players. Behroozian was 14 years and 63 days when he played in his opening Davis Cup tie against Libya in March 1996.

Incidentally, Hadi Badri - who is presumably pursuing his higher studies in the US - is the second youngest on the ITF list at 14 years and 42 days when he first represented the UAE.

Behroozian holds a 32-18 win/loss record at Davis Cup outings for the UAE since then. In the singles, Behroozian has won 10 out of the 18 matches he played, while the 21-year-old snatched eight wins in the 14 outings he had in the doubles.

Considering his past record and the intense training that the seven-member squad is presently going through in Abu Dhabi, Behroozian is tipped to deliver this year as well for the UAE.

"We have always counted Omar as a crucial part of the team. But it would not be right to concentrate on one player as Davis Cup is finally a team event," Dr Al Nuaimi stated.