Djokovic and Venus Williams join Federer and Henin in successfully defending Dubai titles

The 10th anniversary of the women’s event at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships was marked by one of the greatest players of all time retaining her title, and Stacey Allaster, Chief Executive Officer of the WTA, presenting a silver anniversary picture with photographs of all the past WTA winners over the last ten years to Colm McLoughlin, managing director of tournament owners and organisers Dubai Duty Free.

Meanwhile, the men’s event was able to celebrate its 18th birthday with one of the most dramatic finals in its history, as Novak Djokovic fought off a valiant challenge from Mikhail Youzhny to also retain his title. At the same time, the tournament celebrated yet another success after being named the 2009 ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the Year. Remarkably, it was also the tournament’s 14th ATP award since 1993 - the tournament’s inaugural year -  and the sixth time that the Dubai men’s week has won the prestigious ‘Tournament of the Year’ award.

“The championship has proven over the last 18 years to be one of the most popular events on the ATP World Tour, having won numerous ATP awards,” said Brad Drewett, CEO of ATP International in presenting the award. “The tournament has always strived to ensure that it is delivering the best possible experience for the players and has continued to grow over time to maintain those standards. The players love coming to Dubai and its ongoing popularity is a testament to the hard-working tournament staff who have created such a successful tournament."

Before that award was given the women took to the courts of the Dubai Tennis Stadium, and we saw Venus Williams defeat fourth seed Victoria Azarenka from Belarus 6-3 7-5 in a well-contested final, and then receiving her trophy from Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain,wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; Sheikh Hasher Maktoum, Dubai Director of Information and President, Tennis Emirates; Vinit Chandra, chief executive, emerging markets, global retail and commercial banking, Barclays; and Colm McLoughlin, managing director, Dubai Duty Free.

Only Justine Henin had been able to retain her title here before, but Williams’ hold on the trophy was never seriously threatened as she went through the week without the loss of a set. She opened her campaign with a 6-2 6-3 win over Sabine Lisicki, then in the third round she withstood an early challenge from Olga Govortsova, recovering from 1-4 to win the final 10 games and advance 7-5 6-0.

Her quarter-final opponent was Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Williams once again fell behind an early break before recovering to win 6-3 6-4. Still, she needed no less than seven match points to close out the match. In the semi-finals she faced Shahar Peer, and was in tremendous form as she gave her opponent little time to settle and earned a comfortable 6-1 6-4 win.

Meanwhile, Azarenka was working her way through the other side of the draw. She benefited when Kateryna Bondarenko retired at 4-1 down with a knee strain, and then she was taken to three sets by qualifier Anna-Lena Groenefeld, winning 6-1 4-6 6-3. Her quarter-final opponent was Vera Zvonareva, who had just won a tournament in Thailand and appeared almost unstoppable. But she finally ran out of steam against Azarenka and was beaten 6-1 6-3. A semi-final of high quality tennis followed as she saw off Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 6-4.

So, seeds three and four reached the final. What of seeds one and two. They both fell on the same day, with top seed and world number three Caroline Wozniacki losing 6-2 7-5 to Peer. A remarkable aspect of that match was that Wozniacki faced break point in every one of her 10 service games and was broken eight times. Still, Peer had to serve twice for the match, and even held off a break point before she closed it out.

Second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova’s loss was even more dramatic as she conceded a three hour 16-minute marathon to 99th-ranked qualifier Regina Kulikova. Her 5-6 7-6 6-4 defeat recalled another stunning loss that Kuznetsova suffered on the same court five years before, when a virtually unknown Indian by the name of Sania Mirza caused one of the biggest upsets ever seen in the women’s event here. Kulikova went on to become only the fourth woman qualifier to reach the quarter-finals, after Rachel McQuillan who reached the semis in 2001, Lina Krasnoroutskaya in 2001 and Elena Vesnina in 2009.

Of the other top seeds, number five and 2008 winner Elena Dementieva was upset 6-3 6-4 by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round, sixth seed Jelena Jankovic was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Vera Zvonareva at the same stage, seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska reached the semi-finals before falling to Azarenka, and eighth seed Na Li retired with a back injury against Peer in the quarter-finals, losing 7-5 3-0.

Former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli fell to a disappointing 3-6 7-5 6-0 defeat by Na Li in the third round, after serving for the match in the second set. That did not taint her love for the event or Dubai, however. She arrived early to sightsee and do some shopping, and was looking at the prospect of excess baggage charges as she left.

“I love everything here,” she said. “I like the people and I have been doing some sight-seeing and going out to the shopping malls and doing some shopping. Everything here is my dream and I have one extra case to carry back home. I have bought the usual stuff - clothes, shoes, bags and everything a woman needs.”

Jankovic loves Dubai so much she has made her home here and is looking for a high-end property to buy.

“I love so many things about this place,” she said. “The people are good and the place is lovely as I can step put any time and practise. This is home for me now.”

Venus Williams was particualrly impressed not only with the organisation of the tournament but the strides that Dubai is making to become a world centre for sports.

"This tournament has done so well with making it not only a tennis event but also a social event. People love the tournament and they look forward to February and having tennis here,” said Williams. “I know that Dubai wants to be the sporting capital of the world and with the spirit they have shown, obviously more events can come here. So it really just brings a better future to this area of the world, especially in sports.

Despite the disappointment of Dubai resident Roger Federer being sidelined by a lung infection, the men’s week also brought an abundance of thrills and upsets played out before cheering crowds that often held up play by performing a ‘Mexican Wave’ around the packed stadium.

The very first day saw eighth seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon upset 7-6 6-4 by charismatic Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, and fourth seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko also had a rough ride in the first round, taken to three sets by Florent Serra of France. But the biggest upset of the week came in the second round, as third seed Andy Murray, considered by many to be a leading contender for the title, fell 7-6 4-6 6-4 to Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic.

“It’s one of the biggest wins,” said Tipsarevic. “For me, Murray is a contestant to be number one at the end of the season. I'm happy because I was aggressive, yet smart enough to win today. With Andy it's a little bit of a mind game. You need to get aggressive. But if you're too aggressive just rushing to the net, he's going to pass you very, very easy.”

Before that defeat, Murray and Igor Kunitsyn were involved in an extraordinary game early in their first round match, as the second game stretched to 34 points, 14 deuces and 24 minutes before Murray eventually broke to lead 2-0 on his ninth break point.

Mikhail Youzhny was progressing, although with difficulty. The seventh seeded Russian had come within two points of losing to little-known Slovak Lukas Lacko in the first round, and he was taken to a tough two sets by German qualifier Bjorn Phau before winning 7-6 6-4 in the second. In other second round matches, Baghdatis ended the impressive run of Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman, and veteran Croatian Ivan Ljubicic defeated fifth seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In fact, Tsonga had been feeling under the weather all week, and had been lucky to benefit from the retirement of his opponent Michael Llodra in the first round.

Davydenko was another who failed to advance to the final stages, retiring after losing the first set 6-3 to Germany’s Michael Berrer. The problem was a left wrist injury he sustained during a match in Rotterdam about 10 days before.

“I warm up, I was feeling okay. My wrist holding. I have no more pain,” said Davydenko, who had originally considered pulling out before the tournament began. “But in the match it's different. I need to return faster, like fast and play try to do something. Start to get swollen and have more pain. I was thinking about it, get too risky now and better to retire. It's disappointing for me.”

In the quarter-finals, Jurgen Melzer upset sixth seeded Marin Cilic, beating the lanky Croat 7-6 7-5, Baghdatis ended Berrer’s run, winning 7-6 6-1, Youzhny came through 6-3 6-4 against Tipsarevic, and Djokovic struggled as he had in the second round. Having edged fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-4 6-2, he was totally outplayed by Ljubicic in the first set of their quarter-final before eventually taking control and advancing 2-6 6-4 6-0 by winning 18 of the final 22 points.

The semi-finals were both very closely contested. Youzhny needed two hours 13-minutes to overcome Melzer 7-5 7-6, and Djokovic was stretched to the limit by Baghdatis, needing just five minutes under three hours to win 6-7 6-3 6-4.

“It's incredible struggle again. Playing almost three hours against somebody that keeps the ball in the court in the rally for a long time,” said Djokovic. “Every game was on the edge, I think. I had to work it out with my legs and fighting spirit, I guess.”

The final was memorable for two reasons. First, a violent storm flooded the court and the match had to be suspended with Djokovic leading 7-5 2-0, Then when play resumed on Sunday, the match stretched to a total of three hours 21-minutes with numerous twists and turns before the Serb emerged with a 7-5 5-7 6-3 victory.

“It took a lot of energy for me,” said Djokovic after receiving his trophy in a ceremony that included His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, H.H. Sheikh Hasher bin Maktoum al Maktoum, President of Tennis Emirates and Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, Vice President of Tennis Emirates.

“Stopping and playing, and coming back and then again stopping the match last night because of the rain. If we continued last night I think I had much better chance to get the job done in two sets. I felt really well on the court, hitting the ball, feeling relaxed. Today I was really nervous before the match, during the match for no reason.

“The way things stand right now I will ensure if everything goes right with my health I will be back. Because the people here are just fantastic, friendly, and they make me feel and my team so comfortable. We are very relaxed. Of course when you are off court so relaxed and you have an enjoyable time, you perform well on the court.”

The final word goes to Vinit Chandra, Chief Executive, Emerging Markets, GRB Barclays, who was thrilled with the two fantastic weeks of thrills and upsets that made the 18th Barclay Dubai Tennis Championships one of the best ever.

"Our partnership with Dubai Duty Free for the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships has brought a fortnight of world class tennis from the top players to our customers and tennis fans,” he said. “On behalf of Barclays, I would like to congratulate Novak Djokovic for a great performance and his excellent sportsmanship. The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships has strengthened the link of our brand with world-class tennis. The platform gave Barclays an opportunity to extend the reach of the tournament to the wider community through the initiatives for special needs children, upcoming young talent, NGOs and charities.”