Dubai Tennis Championships

Dubai Tennis Championships
Location	Dubai  United Arab Emirates
Venue	Aviation Club Tennis Centre
Surface	Hard / Outdoors
Official Website
ATP World Tour
Category	500 series
Draw	32S / 16Q / 16D
Prize Money	US$2,233,000
WTA Tour
Category	Premier
Draw	56M / 32Q / 16D
Prize Money	US$2,000,000

Dubai Tennis Championships in 2006

The Dubai Tennis Championships (also known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships and the Dubai Duty Free Men's and Women's Championships) is a professional tennis tournament owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held annually in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on outdoor hardcourts. The tournament organizes both a men's and women's event. The tournament takes place under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

For five years Swiss Roger Federer, on the men's side, and Belgian Justine Henin, on the women's side, dominated the singles' tournaments. Between 2003 and 2007, Federer and Henin each won the singles title four times. However, in 2008, neither player managed to reach the finals; Andy Roddick and Elena Dementieva became the new champions. Currently, the reigning champions are Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki.

Shahar Pe'er controversy

In February 2009, Israeli player Shahar Pe'er was prevented from playing at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, as she was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates, a country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Tournament director Salah Tahlak said that Pe'er was refused on the grounds that her appearance could incite anger in the Arab country, after she had already faced protests at the ASB Classic over the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.^[1]

A number of top-seeded players, among them Venus Williams,^[2] condemned the action to not grant Pe'er a visa. WTA chief executive Larry Scott said the women's tour was "deeply disappointed" by the decision. "Ms Pe'er has earned the right to play in the tournament and it's regrettable that the UAE is denying her this right", he said. "Ms Peer and her family are obviously extremely upset and disappointed by the decision of the UAE and its impact on her personally and professionally." Scott said the WTA would "review appropriate future actions with regard to the future of the Dubai tournament".^[3] In reaction to the move, the Tennis Channel decided not to televise the event,^[4][5] and The Wall Street Journal dropped its sponsorship.^[6] Scott said that he had considered cancelling the tournament, but chose not to after consulting Pe'er.

The rejection of the tennis player's visa application violates WTA rules, which state that no host country should deny a player the right to compete at a tournament for which she has qualified by ranking.^[7] The WTA held the tournament accountable in part because of its sponsorship by Dubai Duty Free, a government enterprise, and also because the event was "Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai."^[8] In response to the refusal of the UAE to issue the visa, the Dubai Tennis Championship was fined a record US$300,000. The fine was appealed by DTC, but the WTA Tour Board rejected the appeal.^[9] The tour also demanded that Dubai organizers confirm that qualifying Israeli players will get visas at least eight weeks in advance for the 2010 event.^[9] Pe'er was awarded US$44,250, an amount equal to the average prize money she earned per tournament in 2008.^[10] A number of highly-ranked tennis players, including 2008 winner Andy Roddick, pulled out of the mens' ATP tournament in Dubai in protest. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal also pulled out of the tournament, although they both cited injury as their reason for withdrawal, not the incident involving Pe'er. As a result, the UAE issued Andy Ram a visa for the men's tournament.^[11]

Past finals

Men

Singles

Logo from when the name changed to Dubai Tennis Championships, used until 2007.

2008-2010 tournament logo

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1993	Karel Nováček	Fabrice Santoro	6–4, 7–5
1994	Magnus Gustafsson	Sergi Bruguera	6–4, 6–2
1995	Wayne Ferreira	Andrea Gaudenzi	6–3, 6–3
1996	Goran Ivanišević	Albert Costa	6–4, 6–3
1997	Thomas Muster	Goran Ivanišević	7–5, 7–6(3)
1998	Àlex Corretja	Félix Mantilla	7–6(0), 6–1
1999	Jérôme Golmard	Nicolas Kiefer	6–4, 6–2
2000	Nicolas Kiefer	Juan Carlos Ferrero	7–5, 4–6, 6–3
↓  International Series Gold tournaments  ↓
2001	Juan Carlos Ferrero	Marat Safin	6–2, 3–1, retired
2002	Fabrice Santoro	Younes El Aynaoui	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
2003	Roger Federer	Jiří Novák	6–1, 7–6(2)
2004	Roger Federer	Feliciano López	4–6, 6–1, 6–2
2005	Roger Federer	Ivan Ljubičić	6–1, 6–7(6), 6–3
2006	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
2007	Roger Federer	Mikhail Youzhny	6–4, 6–3
2008	Andy Roddick	Feliciano López	6–7(8), 6–4, 6–2
↓  500 Series tournaments  ↓
2009	Novak Djokovic	David Ferrer	7–5, 6–3
2010	Novak Djokovic	Mikhail Youzhny	7–5, 5–7, 6–3
2011	Novak Djokovic	Roger Federer	6–3, 6–3

Doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1993	John Fitzgerald Anders Järryd	Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith	6–2, 6–1
1994	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	Darren Cahill John Fitzgerald	6–7, 6–4, 6–2
1995	Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith	Tomás Carbonell Francisco Roig	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
1996	Grant Connell Byron Black	Karel Nováček Jiří Novák	6–0, 6–1
1997	Sander Groen Goran Ivanišević	Sandon Stolle Cyril Suk	7–6, 6–3
1998	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	Donald Johnson Francisco Montana	6–2, 7–5
1999	Wayne Black Sandon Stolle	David Adams John-Laffnie de Jager	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
2000	Jiří Novák David Rikl	Robbie Koenig Peter Tramacchi	6-2, 7-5
↓  International Series Gold tournaments  ↓
2001	Joshua Eagle Sandon Stolle	Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić	6–4, 6–4
2002	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	Joshua Eagle Sandon Stolle	3–6, 6–3, [13–11]
2003	Leander Paes David Rikl	Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett	6–3, 6–0
2004	Mahesh Bhupathi Fabrice Santoro	Jonas Björkman Leander Paes	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
2005	Martin Damm Radek Štěpánek	Jonas Björkman Fabrice Santoro	6–2, 6–4
2006	Paul Hanley Kevin Ullyett	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	1–6, 6–2, [10–1]
2007	Fabrice Santoro Nenad Zimonjić	Mahesh Bhupathi Radek Štěpánek	7–5, 6–7, [10–7]
2008	Mahesh Bhupathi Mark Knowles	Martin Damm Pavel Vízner	7–5, 7–6
↓  500 Series tournaments  ↓
2009	Rik de Voest Dmitry Tursunov	Martin Damm Robert Lindstedt	4–6, 6–3, [10–5]
2010	Simon Aspelin Paul Hanley	Lukáš Dlouhý Leander Paes	6–2, 6–3
2011	Sergiy Stakhovsky Mikhail Youzhny	Jérémy Chardy Feliciano López	4–6, 6–3, [10–3]

Women

Singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
↓  Tier II tournament  ↓
2001	Martina Hingis	Nathalie Tauziat	6–4, 6–4
2002	Amélie Mauresmo	Sandrine Testud	6–4, 7–6(3)
2003	Justine Henin-Hardenne	Monica Seles	4–6, 7–6(4), 7–5
2004	Justine Henin-Hardenne	Svetlana Kuznetsova	7–6(3), 6–3
2005	Lindsay Davenport	Jelena Janković	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
2006	Justine Henin-Hardenne	Maria Sharapova	7–5, 6–2
2007	Justine Henin	Amélie Mauresmo	6–4, 7–5
2008	Elena Dementieva	Svetlana Kuznetsova	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
↓  Premier 5 tournament  ↓
2009	Venus Williams	Virginie Razzano	6–4, 6–2
2010	Venus Williams	Victoria Azarenka	6–3, 7–5
2011	Caroline Wozniacki	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6–1, 6–3

Doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
↓  Tier II tournament  ↓
2001	Yayuk Basuki Caroline Vis	Åsa Svensson Karina Habšudová	6–0, 4–6, 6–2
2002	Barbara Rittner María Vento-Kabchi	Sandrine Testud Roberta Vinci	6–3, 6–2
2003	Svetlana Kuznetsova Martina Navrátilová	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	6–3, 7–6
2004	Janette Husárová Conchita Martínez	Svetlana Kuznetsova Elena Likhovtseva	6–0, 1–6, 6–3
2005	Virginia Ruano Paola Suárez	Svetlana Kuznetsova Alicia Molik	6–7, 6–2, 6–1
2006	Květa Peschke Francesca Schiavone	Svetlana Kuznetsova Nadia Petrova	3–6, 7–6, 6–3
2007	Cara Black Liezel Huber	Svetlana Kuznetsova Alicia Molik	7–6, 6–4
2008	Cara Black Liezel Huber	Zheng Jie Yan Zi	7–5, 6–2
↓  Premier 5 tournament  ↓
2009	Cara Black Liezel Huber	Maria Kirilenko Agnieszka Radwańska	6–3, 6–3
2010	Nuria Llagostera Vives María José Martínez Sánchez	Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	7–6(5), 6–4
2011	Liezel Huber María José Martínez Sánchez	Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	7–6(5), 6–3

References

1. ^ "Dubai faces censure over Peer ban". BBC Sport. 2009-02-17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7891164.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-17. 
2. ^ Mondays With Bob Greene: We do not wish to politicize sports
3. ^ "Israeli Peer refused Dubai visa". BBS Sport (BBC). 2009-02-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7891164.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-16. 
4. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3912927&type=story
5. ^ Sandomir, Richard. "Tennis Channel Won’t Televise Dubai Event in Protest." The New York Times. February 16, 2009. Retrieved on February 18, 2009.
6. ^ Ovide, Shira. "Journal Drops Dubai Tennis Sponsorship." The Wall Street Journal. February 18, 2009. Retrieved on February 18, 2009.
7. ^ [1]
8. ^ [2]
9. ^ ^{a b} http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242212395267&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
10. ^ "Dubai given record fine over Peer". BBC News. February 20, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7902965.stm. Retrieved May 1, 2010. 
11. ^ [3]

External links

• Official Website

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Kitzbühel	ATP International Series Tournament of the Year 1997	Succeeded by Lyon & Scottsdale
Preceded by Montréal	Favorite WTA Tier I - II Tournament 2001, 2002	Succeeded by Moscow
Preceded by Kitzbühel Acapulco	ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the Year 2003-2006 2008-2010	Succeeded by Acapulco TBD

Coordinates: 25°14′34.33″N 55°20′33″E / 25.2428694°N 55.3425°E / 25.2428694; 55.3425