Dubai TD: 'Roger Federer's 100th ATP title in Dubai would be special'
After defending the Hopman Cup title with Belinda Bencic in the opening week of the season, Roger Federer failed to do the same in Melbourne, losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round to lose both the title and the place in the top-5. Roger went back to Switzerland, announcing the third Laver Cup in Geneva with Bjorn Borg last Friday and training on an indoor court before heading to Dubai where he usually spends the second part of February. The 20-time Grand Slam champion will chase the eighth ATP 500 Dubai title in the last days of February and the beginning of March, entering one of his favorite events in the calendar for the 14th time and the second in the previous four years.
Starting in 1993, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships became one of the most important tournaments of the first quarter of the season and Roger has been the regular guest there since 2002, buying a house there and using Dubai as his base during the offseason. After that terrible loss to Evgeny Donskoy in 2017 when he wasted match points, Roger is eager to lift the trophy once again and achieve a huge milestone as the second player in the Open era with 100 ATP titles after Jimmy Connors. Back in November, the tournament director Salah Tahlak said they are doing everything to get the Roger back for 2019 edition after skipping Dubai in 2018 and the goal was achieved, with Federer leading the field that also includes Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori, Karen Khachanov, Borna Coric and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The young Greek just reached the semi-final at the Australian Open and Tahlak sees him as the player to beat in the future, calling him the next Federer. Nonetheless, his focus is entirely on Roger at the moment, hoping for a good draw for the Swiss and a chance for him to chase that elusive 100th ATP title that would make Dubai the center of the tennis world for the weeks to come. Roger's last Dubai title came in 2015 when he defeated the world no. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final and he is the favorite to lift another trophy at his second home on March 2 if he brings his best tennis.
"I think Stefanos Tsitsipas is the next Roger. He is the future," said Tahlak. "There will be a big gap when Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and del Potro retire and tennis will need new stars like him. For Roger, Dubai is important because his first official title came in Milan. It was a tournament owned by Dubai Duty Free. It has always been a great bond between Roger and Dubai. So it's very important to have him back. I hope the draw next Saturday will help him because if he reaches the final and wins it, it will be the number eight title for him in Dubai and that will also be the 100th title of his career. It will be a magical moment. It will also be a great legacy that he will be leaving behind if he wins his 100th title in Dubai."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2N3Mn0M
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