Dubai Duty Free's Finest Surprise received a new twist when the draw was made for the Dubai Tennis Championships ATP week.

Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free and more accustomed to drawing winners of the luxury cars given away in the company's long-standing promotion, caused gasps of amazement when he drew Marat Safin to play Roger Federer in the first round of the tournament.

That guaranteed the event arguably the most difficult first round match ever played on the ATP Tour - Roger Federer, world number one and holder of not only the Dubai Duty Free title but those of Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the Masters Cup, against Marat Safin, ranked number two in the Champions Race, a former number one and Grand Slam champion and the player Federer beat to win the 2004 Australian Open final.

How could this come about? Well, Safin had suffered injury for most of 2003 and seen his ranking drop to 30, and such was the depth of the field for the 12th Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships that he was unseeded.

That was only the first shock of the week. The next came on the opening day, when no less than three top seeds were upset. First, 2003 Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schuettler fell to qualifier and fellow German Philipp Kohlschreiber. Next, Tim Henman was edged out in a third set tiebreak by unheralded Tomas Zib, ranked 149 in the world. And finally, towering Australian Davis Cup hero Mark Philippoussis fell to diminutive Belgian Olivier Rochus.

"It's really disappointing to be leaving," said Henman after his match. "I can't stress enough how much I enjoy this tournament. We're very well looked after and I desperately want to play better here. I think the matches I've lost have all been night matches, so I've got to make a request to play early next year. Two o'clock, please!"

And that wasn't the end of it. Tuesday saw two Argentinians dismissed as second seed Guillermo Coria fell to Mikhail Youzhny and fourth seed David Nalbandian lost to Jarkko Nieminen. Only Sjeng Schalken survived, the number eight seed beating Sargis Sargsian.

And Federer, of course, although he had a hard time getting past Safin. In a contest that fully lived up to expectations, the best player in the world edged through in two tiebreaks.

The last remaining seed, Paradorn Srichaphan, didn't play until Wednesday, and he faced an awesome task against Dominik Hrbaty. The Slovak had won three tournaments already this year, including one in Marseille immediately before he flew to Dubai. But he had picked up a virus in Europe, and the Thai had an easy ride through when Hrbaty quit after seven games.

So, only three seeds into the second round out of eight! Unusual, to say the least. Srichaphan was the next to go, losing 7-5 in the third set to Ivan Ljubicic, as he had in the Thailand Open last year. Then Schalken failed to get beyond the quarter-finals, losing to Nieminen. But Federer won, and won again, beating Tommy Robredo and Andrei Pavel, and then ending Nieminen's run in the semi-final with an enthralling 7-6 6-2 victory.

Meanwhile, in the other side of the draw, Feliciano Lopez quietly worked his way through to his first ATP final without having to face a seed. The left-handed Spaniard, who surprisingly names grass as his favourite surface, gave his best against an awesome opponent. But it was Federer who retained his title with a 4-6 6-1 6-2 victory.

While Justine Henin-Hardenne also retained her WTA Dubai title - the first time in the history of the tournament that had been achieved in either the men's or women's event - there were also a number of upsets along the way.

The top four players didn't have to play until the second round, but sixth seed Jelena Dokic slumped 6-1 6-2 to Petra Mandula and seventh seed Francesca Schiavone fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova in opening round action.

Jennifer Capriati followed in round two, beaten by Eleni Daniilidou. But that was not entirely unexpected, as an in-form Daniilidou had won the Auckland tournament in January, and Capriati had not played since November because of a career-threatening back injury. Still, the American legend was disappointed.

"I didn't want to leave and wanted to keep playing, so I was trying hard out there to stick around," she said of her second round battle.

Venus Williams, who was also fighting her way back to fitness after playing only four matches since Wimbledon, came through against Alicia Molik but then fell to Kuznetsova. Having pulled out of Tokyo and Antwerp with a knee injury, Venus really wasn't yet ready to play. But she loves Dubai and was determined to return for her second visit.

"I love it here, and that's why I had to come, no ifs or buts," she said. "The crowd were so sweet. I wanted to try for them, and it was nice to have some motivation outside of what I normally have. I'll be here again as long as I can do it. It's so exotic out here. Such a great mix of people that one can get immersed completely in a different culture altogether."

Kuznetsova, who had won the 2003 doubles title with Martina Navratilova, caused another upset in the semi-finals when she beat fifth seed Ai Sugiyama, while in the other half of the draw Meghann Shaughnessy saw off fourth seeded Russian Anastasia Myskina.

Asian number one Sugiyama was making her first visit to Dubai, and was mightily impressed with what she saw.

"I like it very much here," she said. "It's much nicer than I expected, actually. People were saying it's a really nice tournament, well organised and the city's very nice, but I imagined something different. The roads are very nice with the flowers, it's very clean and there are a lot of new buildings. It's a great city. I enjoyed going to the Gold Souk. I've never seen so much gold, and it's much cheaper than in Japan or the US."

And so to the final. Henin-Hardenne, the reigning French, US and Australian Open champion and the world number one was unbeaten in 2004, and it stayed that way as she beat Kuznetsova 7-6 6-3 in a competitive and entertaining final in front of a packed stadium. For the defending champion it was a great end to one of her favourite tournaments, and for Kuznetsova it was another valuable step forward in her young career. In fact, she learned her lessons well from the match and went on to beat Henin-Hardenne the following week.

"Dubai is special because of everything that has happened after I won my title here last year," said Henin-Hardenne. "I think all the players are feeling great here. They take care of us extremely well. My husband had a great time this week. I didn't see him because he was water skiing and in the desert. It's a great tournament and I've really enjoyed it. Playing here in the evening it's a very nice atmosphere. The court is great, a perfect speed and in very good condition, and I'm sure I'll be back next year because it's a tournament I like a lot."

And you can be sure that Kuznetsova will be back for a third visit too.

"I always look forward to coming back to Dubai. It's a wonderful tournament," she said. "There's definitely something about Dubai. There's something in the air. I love to be here because people are very welcoming to the players and there are so many players on the tour who are happy to come here. It's a long way but we still enjoy staying here. It's a nice atmosphere and everything is good here."

As well as the on-court action, plenty happened off-court too. During the event it was announced that Dubai Duty Free would sponsor the WTA Tour worldwide outside of North America, and that they would be presenting sponsor of a new WTA Tour magazine-style tv show focusing on the personalities and lifestyles of the players.

Roger Federer visited Jumeirah Primary School, where he spent an hour answering questions from the pupils and said it was one of the most enjoyable things he had ever done off the court, and along with others such as Henin-Hardenne and Capriati he visited the Dubai Duty Free shop floor.

Venus Williams also got out and about, mobbed by thousands of ecstatic fans before conducting a question-and-answer session at the Burjuman Centre, and holidaying in Dubai for several days after her defeat. She even turned up at the final as a guest.

"I really like it here in Dubai and I'm going to try and convince my sister Serena to come and play here next year," she promised.

The Aces Fan Club, initiated for the first time in 2004, proved to be a great success with over 2500 members signing up to receive extra benefits, and more than 2000 kids took part in Kids Day clinics with players such as Liezel Huber and Max Mirnyi in association with the Clark Francis Tennis Academy.

The tournament website, www.dubaitennischampionships.com, received over two million hits on the first day alone, and ticket sales were up dramatically as crowds flocked to the Dubai Tennis Stadium for every session. Over the 13 nights, there were four sell-outs with each night averaging over 3,000 fans.

After such a successful 2004 event, full of outstanding tennis and dramatic upsets, tennis fans can now look forward to another great two weeks of tennis in 2005.

The Dubai Tennis Championships is owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held under the patronage of HH General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of Defence, UAE.