Contact Us

  Tennis history is made of moments like these: when French girl Marion Bartoli picked up the handsome singles trophy and held it aloft after the singles final of the 7^th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge, one could not but hold his  breath and help ponder at the historic importance of yet another edition of this hugely-popular event on the WTA Tour.

  This was the seventh edition – and seven is an auspicious number – of a competition that has managed to set the standards for tennis in the Gulf region, if not the entire Arab world.

  When Khalaf Al Habtoor, Chairman of the Habtoor Group, conceived the idea of a proper tennis tournament on the WTA Tour, there may have not been too much of a belief in his thought. But seven years down memory lane and things are quite different as the event has hosted some of the best players on the women’s circuit.

  Take the singles winner Marion Bartoli, for instance. The 21-year-old French girl, now based in Geneva, is the 2001 winner of the US Open Juniors title. No doubt, Bartoli was in a class of her own during the week-long competition and despite being matched by her opponent Kaia Kanepi during the early course of the final, Bartoli gave enough indication to show who was the boss of the evening.

  That does not mean that her opposition was meek and humble. It was just that Bartoli was simply too good, and the rest of the field could not measure up to her total poise and control on court.

  “This event has grown in leaps and bounds,” admits Tournament Director, Farid Jayussi, one of the pioneers involved with the launch of this event. “We started small, but today we can be proud of attracting some of the top players on the Tour,” he points out.

  This is no vain boast from the tournament director as this year’s competition brought together eight of the world’s top 100 players; and within days of the announcement of the event, as many as 278 had registered for participation. Organisers did try, but failed to lure India’s rising tennis star Sania Mirza to break her training schedule and stop by for the Dubai tournament. But, other than denying the tournament of a star attraction, it did nothing negative for the competition.

  “This is an all-time record for sure for this competition,” opines Hani El Khafief, yet another one of those responsible for successfully setting up the event.

Fantastic field

  “This year was a record, and we are yet to get a confirmation whether this is a record entry list of players at one single competition on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) calendar,” Hani El Khafief states.

  Besides Marion Bartoli, some of the other top names this year included Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn, a former World No. 19, semifinalist Henrieta Nagyova, a former World No. 21 and winner of nine WTA Tour singles titles and the 75^th ranked Spaniard, Lourdes Dominguez Lino, a former winner of the French Open Juniors and a regular with the national team from the time she was 13, among others.

  Tunisia’s Selima Sfar, one of the role models for women’s tennis in the Arab world, was also there with her withering challenge along with neighbouring Algeria’s fast upcoming youngster, Samia Medjahdi and another Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge regular, Morocco’s Bahia Mouhtassine.

So what is it that has made this event so popular among mostly the aspiring players, and more recently, some of the stars on Tour? “There has to be something that we are doing right. The mere fact that players, among these some of the best ones on the Tour, want to come and play in Dubai only means that we are doing something right all the time,” Farid Jayussi interjects.

Vision

  But more importantly, rather than getting things right, it has been the vision of a man like Khalaf Al Habtoor that has seen this competition develop – tugging along with it a growth for the sport in the Gulf region. From its humble beginning as a $25,000 competition, this event has tripled the prizemoney to an astounding $75,000 along with some unmatched hospitality at one of the best resorts in the region. “Consider that a bonus, but the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge is perhaps the only event on the ITF calendar in this segment that offers complete hospitality and prizemoney to the players. Players love it here and that is why they keep coming every year,” Hani El Khafief sought to explain.

7th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge Singles Champion Marion Bartoli (FRA) and Runner-Up Kaia Kanepi (Est) holding their respective trophies.		Doubles winner Gabriela Navratilova (CZE) and Hana Sromova (CZE) with Mr. Khalaf Al Habtoor, H.H. Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum and Sultan Al Habtoor.

  “I think we always seem to get the timing of the event on the calendar right too. The weather in Dubai is so lovely at this time of the year. The evenings are cool and the games can be a perfect outing for the entire family,” El Khafief adds.

Prizemoney increase

  Though starting off as a $25,000 event, the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge has seen the prizemoney triple to $75,000. “We wouldn’t say this competition has a huge amount to offer by way of money. But we bring in something distinct to the circuit. The players love it and we like what we are doing,” Jayussi shrugs.

  And with time this event is bound to keep on evolving. “Things keep on changing all the while, and we are no different,” he notes.

“This competition has been growing at such a rapid rate, and we are keen to see it grow even more,” Jayussi added.

  “We are keen to always improve on the quality of the field we get each year. Maybe we could have an increase in the prizemoney… anything is possible,” Jayussi smiles.

Bridging the gap

  Other than bringing in some of the best players, what else does this competition do for the sport locally? “There is an automatic exposure for the game here to start with,” states Kyra Nagy, one of the regular players, and one time winner at the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge.

  “I have seen local UAE girls come and watch us play. And there are a couple of young girls who even come along with their playing kit. That’s definitely a great sign of development for tennis among women in this region,” Nagy explains.

  No doubt, there is the annual Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open. But that is mostly for the big league stars. Maybe, the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge will be unable to match the DDF Womens Open, but that does not mean that they do not continue pursuing their goals of taking women’s tennis to a higher plane in this region.

  “This competition is meant to attract a mixture of both – the big names and the other ones who seek to break into the big bracket. And I think we manage to bridge the gap beautifully,” Hani El Khafief explains.

  “But what is even more important is that we want to use this competition to raise the profile of the game and one day in the near future, see some of our own juniors play here,” Jayussi states.

  “This tournament has a place in the history of this sport in this part of the world. And I am sure, we will not disappoint anyone,” he smiles.

Results of the 7^th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge:

SINGLES:

Final: Marion Bartoli beat Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-0;

Semifinals: Kaia Kanepi beat Jelena Kostanic (walkover); Marion Bartoli beat Henrieta Nagyova 6-0, 2-0 (retired).

Quarterfinals: Marion Bartoli beat Emma Laine 6-1, 6-2; Henrieta Nagyova beat Sandra Kleinova 1-6, 7-6 (2), 2-0 (retired); Jelena Kostanic beat Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1; Kaia Kanepi beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-4, 6-3.

DOUBLES:

Final: Gabriela Navratilova and Hana Sromova beat Ekaterina Makarova and Olga Panova 7-5, 6-4.

Semifinals: Gabriela Navratilova and Hana Sromova beat Kateryna Bondarenko and Valeria Bondarenko 6-4, 7-5; Ekaterina Makarova and Olga Panova beat Jelena Kostanic and Henrieta Nagyova 7-5, 6-4.

Quarterfinals: Gabriela Navratilova and Hana Sromova beat Montinee Tangphong and Thassha Vitayaviroj 6-1, 7-6 (2); Kateryna Bondarenko and Valeria Bondarenko beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Arantxa Parra Santonja 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4; Ekaterina Makarova and Olga Panova beat Ekaterina Dzehalevich and Sandra Kleinova 7-6 (1), 6-3; Jelena Kostanic and Henrieta Nagyova beat Zsofia Gubacsi and Kyra Nagy 7-5, 6-4.