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  Fans were served up a dream final at the Dubai Tennis Championships with the world’s number one and two players - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – crowning two weeks of play, which saw almost every top player in the men’s and women’s games compete at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.

  In a dramatic final, Spanish teenager Nadal came back from one set down to upset the defending champion 2-6 6-4 6-4 and put pay to Federer’s hopes of winning the Dubai title for a fourth time.

  The fortnight began with the women’s event where the pick of the first round ties saw Martina Hingis drawn against Sania Mirza of India, who won an army of fans in Dubai last year after beating US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on her way to the quarterfinals. The crowds were back to support Mirza, but her return to Dubai was short lived as Hingis continued her impressive return from retirement with a 6-3 7-5 victory.

  In scenes more reminiscent of Wimbledon than Dubai, two days of rain caused slight delays to the tournament but it didn’t dampen the crowds’ enthusiasm with the stadium full to capacity for virtually every match. There was one upset in the first round, as Maria Kirilenko overcame fifth seed Nadia Petrova, and then went on to the quarter-finals where she managed to take a set off defending champion Lindsay Davenport before bowing out.

  In the second round, Hingis kept her run going when she dismissed former French Open winner and sixth seed Anastasia Myskina. And Davenport celebrated her 700th career victory by crushing Elena Likhovtseva 6-0 6-0.

  In the quarter-finals, Sharapova was able to gain revenge for her recent defeat by Hingis in Tokyo, winning a competitive battle 6-3 6-4, and Kuznetsova continued her good run by following up her second round win over eighth seed Daniela Hantuchova by beating top seed Amelie Mauresmo 7-6 6-4.

  In the semi-finals, Kuznetsova was stopped by two-time former champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, and Sharapova beat Davenport after conceding the first set. Henin-Hardenne then went on to win her second title of the year in the final with a 7-5 6-2 victory over Sharapova, leaving her still unbeaten in the 12 matches she has played in Dubai and adding to the trophies she won in 2003 and 2004.

  “It’s an amazing feeling,” Henin-Hardenne said afterwards. “It’s great, because I didn’t know really what to expect before coming here after my little health problems in Australia. I’m very happy the way it ends, for sure.

  “It’s been a tough week even though I won all my matches in two sets. It’s been pretty hard with the rain and the waiting, and it’s a great feeling to have two victories already this year, and that gives a lot of confidence.”

  The men’s week also drew huge crowds, and the story of the first round was Marat Safin, who was playing his first match since August because of a knee injury. He didn’t expect much of himself and was just interested to see how his knee held up, but he surprised himself by upsetting third seed and world number five Nikolay Davydenko 4-6 6-2 6-2.

  “I didn’t expect to win,” said Safin. “I couldn’t really think I would make even a set. I was coming out to play a few games and make sure I was moving okay and get back the rhythm.”

  Fifth seed David Ferrer and sixth seed Dominik Hrbaty also failed to reach the second round, and there were two more upsets in the second round as Tim Henman recovered from 2-5 in the final set to beat seventh seed Radak Stepanek, and little-known German Bjorn Phau upset Andre Agassi 7-5 7-5.

  Although he won 7-6 6-4, Roger Federer had a difficult time in reaching the quarter-finals, as he was challenged well by Kuwait’s Mohammed Al Ghareeb. By the quarter-finals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were the only seeded players left, and they progressed smoothly with Federer beating Robin Vik, playing only his 28th match on the tour, and Nadal overcoming a strong first set challenge to beat Henman 7-6 6-1. The semi-finals were also straight-forward for the top two, with Federer taking less than an hour to beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-2 6-3, and Nadal defeating Rainer Schuettler 6-4 6-2 to set up the final everyone was hoping for.

  At first it looked as if it would be quick, and Federer would win four titles at the same event for the first time in his career. But after Federer dominated the first set, Nadal raised his game as Federer’s faltered. And, with crucial breaks at 4-4 in both the second and third sets, the Spanish teenager won his 13th career title.

  “It is unbelievable to me that I can win against the best player in the world, against one of the best in history,” Nadal said. “It’s very important and very special for me, especially because I was three months out of the court with my foot injury.”

  Federer was magnanimous in defeat and made no excuses, saying that his opponent had been the better player on the day.

  “He deserved to win today,” the Swiss ace said. “He was more consistent and I sprayed the ball a little bit at the end. I didn’t go for crazy, but he really played better in the end.”

  There was plenty of action off-court too as the players managed to experience some of Dubai’s attractions. Lindsay Davenport joined Maria Sharapova on a visit to the world’s first indoor alpine ski resort – Ski Dubai – for a photo shoot on an astro-turf court with snowy slopes and a ski-lift in the background.

2006 Dubai Tennis Champion World No. 2 Rafael Nadal

  Switzerland’s Martina Hingis might have felt at home on the slopes, but instead she thrilled more than 200 children when she visited the Dubai English Speaking School to answer questions from the students and present an award to nine-year old Ziyan Kassam, winner of a colouring competition held in conjunction with the Dubai Tennis Championships.

  The following week, Tim Henman met with over 350 children at the English College in Jumeirah, as he paid a visit to the school to present 12-year-old, poster-design winner Nicoletta Kyvernitis a signed photograph and tickets to the final of the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open.

  Roger Federer visited the Gold Souk and took to the water to enjoy a relaxing night cruise on a luxury speed boat on Dubai Creek, and Andre Agassi visited the Oval Gardens at the One & Only Royal Mirage where he enjoyed a meeting with ‘DJ’ - a three-year old female Peregrine falcon.

  “It’s amazing to see how agile and efficient they are, especially their speed and precision,” said Agassi after watching a falconry show. “How they function as a predator is pretty amazing. To experience these things is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

  Rafael Nadal was also out and about, visiting the Dubai Polo Club and enjoying a new experience in his life.

  “It’s the first time I’ve been on a horse, but I was taught well and I’ve enjoyed myself,” he said. “The players like to do different things and getting us away from everything tennis-related makes us more relaxed.”

  Maria Sharapova was also thrilled with her first visit to Dubai, and was overwhelmed with the luxury of her surroundings.

  “It’s amazing,” said the Russian. “It’s such a cool place, so different. Every year you go to the same places, but it’s fascinating to see a new lifestyle, a new culture. I’ll be telling people it’s very different to anything you expect. It’s really like Disneyworld meets Las Vegas. They take the best things out of the whole world and put them into one city and create this huge magical place.

  “The hotel, the Burj Al Arab, it’s insane. You walk in and you look and there’s always something there to see. You see gold or you see fabric, there’s always something there. And the people are really nice and I love the culture here. That’s the greatest thing about travelling, meeting new people and seeing how they live.”

  As Rafael Nadal flew away to his next tournament he was also full of praise for an event he considers one of the best on the tour.

  “The public was unbelievable with me,” said the Spanish teenager. “Every day the court was full when I played and they supported me a lot and I want to say thank you very much to everybody. I already had good memories of Dubai from the last time I was here, and I love it. It’s one of my favourite tournaments. It’s a special place, a city built in the desert. In a few years, if not already, it will be one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world.”

  And to celebrate what has become one of the biggest tournaments in the world outside of the Grand Slams, the Dubai Duty Free-owned event announced a spectacular increase in prize money for 2007, with both the men’s and women’s purses rising from $1 million to $1.5 million – a gesture that will ensure the world’s greatest players will be back to compete in Dubai next year.