Dubai Wins 2011 ATP World Tour 500 Tournament Of The Year

© Dubai Duty Free Tennis ChampionshipsThe Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships was named ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the Year for the eighth time in nine years.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships has once again been honoured by the ATP, being named as the ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the Year for 2011. This is the eighth time in nine years that the Tournament has won the Award, a truly impressive achievement.

The ATP is the governing body of the men’s professional tennis circuits, and the tournament Awards recognise leading standards set in the ATP World Tour Masters, The ATP World Tour 500 and the ATP World Tour 250 categories and reward the pursuit of excellence in the organization and conduct of these events.

ATP Executive Chairman and President Brad Drewett, who was in Dubai to make the announcement said, "The Dubai tournament continues its pursuit of excellence and players appreciate the organisers efforts to provide the very best conditions for them to showcase their skills. Players enjoy their time at the event  and show their appreciation through these awards."

Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman, Dubai Duty Free, the tournament owners and organizers said, "We are delighted to receive the award for the 'Tournament of the Year' in the ATP 500 category for the eighth time in the past decade. This is a wonderful way to celebrate our 20th Anniversary of the Tournament in Dubai and is confirmation that our efforts to make the tournament something all the players look forward to do not go unnoticed."

Tournament Director Salah Tahlak was also very pleased that the tournament has again been recognised as the best on tour. "We always do our best to look after the players and to continue to improve our service and organization every year, so this Award is great recognition of that work," he said. "The fact that we can celebrate our 20th Anniversary with another Award makes it even more special."

The Dubai ATP tournament is on until Saturday 3 March and features eight of the world’s top 10, including reigning Dubai, Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, four-time winner Roger Federer, sensational Scot Andy Murray, charismatic Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and recent Montpellier winner Tomas Berdych.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.