2005 Federer-Agassi photo seen by half the planet: Dubai Duty-Free CEO
In an interview to Gulf News, the Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty-Free, Colm McLoughlin, commented on Roger Federer's history in the tournament. McLoughlin feels emotional speaking about how the Swiss managed to make the Dubai Open's popularity grow around the world. "When we organised the photo shoot on the helipad of Burj Al Arab back in February 2005, we had no doubt that Roger would be the ideal player to team up with the legendary Andre Agassi for this activity. The photo, we were told by the ATP, was seen by half the planet," said McLoughlin.
He was also satisfied with the women's field: “There were a couple of young WTA players that we were impressed with last year and Naomi Osaka was certainly one of them. When she played last year, she was ranked 48 and made it through to the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Elina Svitolina. Her obvious talent and determination set her apart then and it is fantastic to see how far she has come in the intervening year. Immediately after losing in Dubai she took her first steps to stardom by winning the Indian Wells title. She then defeated Serena Williams at the Miami Open before stunning the tennis world, and Serena again, by winning the US Open. She has continued her fantastic run this season, winning the Australian Open.
“I am very proud of the fact that this tournament has grown so much over the years and I have so many happy memories around this event. However, it is important to point out that there are so many people involved in delivering this tournament and I am very grateful to them all for their efforts, including my own DDF team. I also think we have been very fortunate to have the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, from the very beginning in 1993. Our Chairman, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, has been incredibly supportive of this tournament over the years as well as Shaikh Hasher of (the)Tennis Emirates, who is an avid tennis fan and who attends every year."
The WTA Dubai Open was won by Belinda Bencic who defeated Petra Kvitova in the final.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2VD6Lt1
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