It’s 50-50: Tahlak on Federer’s chances of playing in Dubai
dubai — Salah Tahlak, Tournament Director of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, is still hopeful of having Roger Federer in the tournament when the men’s event begins on February 26.
The 36-year-old Federer made history on Friday night when he became oldest world number one by reaching the semifinals at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
Federer took a last-minute decision to enter the Rotterdam event as he aimed to dethrone old rival Rafael Nadal from the top spot in the ATP rankings after having won his 20th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.
Now that the mission has been accomplished, there are doubts whether Federer will enter the Dubai tournament — an event he has won seven times in the past. “It’s like 50-50. We are still hoping that he will come because you know he loves Dubai and Dubai Duty Free,” Tahlak told Khaleej Times on Saturday.
“His first career title came in Milan and that tournament was owned by Dubai Duty Free. So it’s always on his mind. And he has been good to Dubai and Dubai has been good to him. But sometimes we can’t push beyond the borders. He is a human being and he has his priorities.”
Tahlak then hailed the Swiss maestro’slatestfeat.“It’ssuchanachievement for him to be the number one again and we wish him all the best. He is a legend and he is going to be 37 in August. So it’s a big milestone for him even if he becomes number one for just one week because you don’t know what Nadal will do.
“But I think if he wins Rottardam and then comes to Dubai and wins it, then it (the number one ranking) will be his for quite some time,” he said.
This year the men’s event so far has attracted only two top 20 players. And Salah says injuries have played a part in top players becoming more cautious with their schedule. “The problem is that we have got lot of injuries in men’s tennis,” he said.
Tahlak then revealed that the Dubai tournament will have the spidercam for the first time and they will also have the hawk-eye on Court One. “It’s very important for us to have the hawk-eye on Court One. And the spider-camera on centre court will give different views and different angles.”
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com