Dubai TD: 'Roger Federer is a true ambassador, we hope he wins 100th title'
After defending the Hopman Cup title with Belinda Bencic in the opening week of the season, the 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer failed to do the same in Melbourne, bowing out 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 and training on an indoor court before heading to Dubai where he usually spends the second part of February. The Swiss hit the practice court in Dubai on Thursday, preparing himself for the title chase against the rivals like Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Borna Coric, Milos Raonic and Daniil Medvedev, some of the most excellent competitors from the top-15.
Dubai has been one of the favorite tournaments in Roger's schedule in the last 15 years or so, winning the first title in 2003 and standing as the most successful player of this ATP 500 event with seven titles, with the last one coming in 2015. After that early Melbourne exit, Roger will do his best to get back on the winning way and seek his eighth Dubai crown in front of the partisan crowd that has always been very supportive. Also, the Swiss will play with an extra drive, looking to win that elusive 100th ATP title and join Jimmy Connors as the second ATP player to achieve that, especially after a tough loss to Evgeny Donskoy in the second round in 2017.
Dubai Tournament Director Salah Tahlak has emphasized once again the importance of Roger's appearance in Dubai, gathering the crowd and turning this event into the one to watch for all the tennis lovers from around the world. Just as he did a week ago, Tahlak has expressed his hopes of Roger's 100th ATP title coming right here in Dubai, something that would make it a special stop on his amazing tennis journey that has been on for the last 20 years.
“Federer is a true ambassador for Dubai and this tournament as he brings in the right vibes to our event,” Tahlak told. “Dubai is his second home. Since his first win here he has made this his tournament. He skipped the last year's edition and we have to admit that the enthusiasm among the spectators dropped a bit, and we all know why this happened. This year, he headlines a field that will once again ensure a packed house. One can feel the electric atmosphere as we get ready to start our second week of tennis with the men’s competition.
Roger brings good things for our tournament and we have done well with ticket sales for the second week. Roger spends a lot of time in Dubai and that has added to his appeal among the fans here. At times we get the feeling that spectators want to come for this tournament because of Federer. In the past, people have said that his best years were behind him. But we know what Federer has gone on to do in the world of men’s tennis. Eight is the lucky number for the Chinese, and this is more relevant since we are celebrating the Chinese New Year. We hope Federer can go all the way to the final and win his 100th career title.”
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Vfgllu
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