Dubai Website

Draw

Interesting matchups

Federer v Murray
Ferrer v Haas
Gasquet v Tursunov
Youzhny v Santoro
Cilic v Djokovic
Roddick v Ferrero

I was a bit shocked to read Federer hasnt picked up a racquet since the AO . So this is a great chance for Andy .

Where have you read this Biggy?

Murray to face Federer in Dubai

Britain's Andy Murray has been drawn against Swiss world number one Roger Federer in the first round of the Dubai Open, which begins on Monday.

Defending Dubai champion Federer has not played since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-final in Melbourne six weeks ago.

Murray's recent form has been inconsistent, but the Scot has collected two tour titles in 2008.

Federer and Murray have played each other twice, with one win a piece.

The pair first met in the Thailand Open final - Murray's first ever on the ATP Tour - in October 2005, a match which Federer won in straight sets.

However, Murray avenged the defeat 10 months later at the Cincinnati Masters.

The world number 12 - who is unseeded in Dubai - has won tour events in Qatar and Marseille this year.

But his erratic form has also seen him fall at the first hurdle in the Australian Open as well as the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam 10 days ago.

Federer has not picked up a racket since his straight sets semi-final defeat to eventual Australian Open champion Djokovic on 25 January.

beeb report

Thanks Pebs. Not sure how accurate this is though.

me neither hun - I have a tendency to take most things from the beeb with a pinch of salt...

Should be a good tournament, hope to catch some of it. Be v interesting to see how Murray - Fed goes. Shame for Tommy, not sure he is ready for Ferrer yet!

I assume they just mean that he has not played and therefore not "picked up a racket" in competition, since the AO.

Theyve now changed it to say he hasnt played a competitive match since the AO :shrug: .

Murray v Federer shoudl really be interesting. Murray seems to go the unluck period Gasquet went through a year or 2 ago where he was faced with top seeds at many early rounds which delayed his entry in the top 16. Federer however is most vulnerable in early rounds so definetely interesting match with a big unknown....Federer's current form!

Federer says he's feeling better than in Australia when he hadnt got over his illness but his lack of match play is a big factor here.
A pity theres no predictions contest for Dubai , it would have been interesting .

Thanks BigAl. Fed v Andy is on at 3 GMT tomorrow.

Does anyone know a streaming weblink?

Tenez, check the left hand side of this website closer to the time of the match. It's normally pretty reliable for links to big tournaments, and often the small ones too:

http://tennisform.com/

Actually Federer has been training hard in Dubai with a young american Michael Mclune.
He's 18 so Federer up to his usual trick of getting hungry young talent to push him.He likes doing this between events because fellow ATP pro's obviously won't have the same period of training intensity at any one time of the year.

They have been hitting at Dubai on the courts,Roger's base,there's a blog that I read from Mclune's coach,but it has gone down probably due to it's popularity.

They were hitiing fo a couple of hours at a time,often twice in a day.Weights in the gym in between,and competitive sets and tie-breakers,so no resting on his laurels for Federer.

Thanks Wise. Great.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Singles - First Round
A Murray (GBR) d [1] R Federer (SUI) 67(6) 63 64
[4] D Ferrer (ESP) d T Haas (GER) 63 60
[5] N Davydenko (RUS) d [WC] M Ghareeb (KUW) 64 60
[7] R Gasquet (FRA) d D Tursunov (RUS) 64 64
F Santoro (FRA) d M Youzhny (RUS) 63 64
F Verdasco (ESP) d [WC] R Schuettler (GER) 76(7) 46 61
[Q] J Hernych (CZE) d S Wawrinka (SUI) 64 64
I Andreev (RUS) d [Q] J Minar (CZE) 63 64

ORDER OF PLAY

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2008

Please Note: Dubai is +4 hours GMT

CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm
G Monfils (FRA) vs [8] T Berdych (CZE)
P Kohlschreiber (GER) vs [2] R Nadal (ESP)
Not Before 7:00 PM
M Cilic (CRO) vs [3] N Djokovic (SRB)
[6] A Roddick (USA) vs J Ferrero (ESP)

COURT 1 start 2:00 pm
[WC] M Nader (UAE) vs [Q] M Ledovskikh (RUS)
J Tipsarevic (SRB) vs F Lopez (ESP)
Not Before 5:00 PM
R Gasquet (FRA) / F Santoro (FRA) vs D Ferrer (ESP) / F Verdasco (ESP)
Not Before 7:00 PM
P Hanley (AUS) / L Paes (IND) vs [2] S Aspelin (SWE) / J Knowle (AUT)

COURT 3 start 2:00 pm
[Q] J Sirianni (AUS) vs P Mathieu (FRA)
J Nieminen (FIN) vs O Rochus (BEL)
I Andreev (RUS) / P Mathieu (FRA) vs [WC] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK)

I guess Roj didn’t wanted to waste too much sweat before he’ll have to play against Sampras next week.. ;)
Seriously; this isn’t a big surprise, I’ve said quite often Murray is a bad match up for Roj. This is why I’m convinced Murray will be one of the few players ending up with a positive h2h record against Federer.

An additional problem is that his schedule isn’t based on early round exits, so just like last year’s early season it’s almost impossible to bring about some rhythm or momentum. Due to this lack of match practice a successful IW/Miami campaign is hard to imagine. What he needs now is 10/15 matches in a short period of time, so I reckon we’ll have to wait for the clay season till some of the best of Roger returns. :unsure:

Good result for the veteran :)

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Singles - First Round
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) 36 61 64
[3] N Djokovic (SRB) d M Cilic (CRO) 64 63
[6] A Roddick (USA) d JC Ferrero (ESP) 62 64
[8] T Berdych (CZE) d G Monfils (FRA) 63 62
O Rochus (BEL) d J Nieminen (FIN) 61 62
P-H Mathieu (FRA) d [Q] J Sirianni (AUS) 64 64
F Lopez (ESP) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 63 46 64
[Q] M Ledovskikh (RUS) d [WC] M Nader (UAE) 61 61

ORDER OF PLAY

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2008

Please Note: Dubai is +4 hours GMT

CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm
A Murray (GBR) vs F Verdasco (ESP)
[Q] M Ledovskikh (RUS) vs [2] R Nadal (ESP)
Not Before 7:00 PM
F Santoro (FRA) vs [3] N Djokovic (SRB)
[6] A Roddick (USA) vs P Mathieu (FRA)

COURT 1 start 2:00 pm
[Q] J Hernych (CZE) vs [5] N Davydenko (RUS)
[4] D Ferrer (ESP) vs O Rochus (BEL)
[7] R Gasquet (FRA) vs I Andreev (RUS)
J Kerr (AUS) / R Wassen (NED) vs [4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH)
Not Before 8:30 PM
R Gasquet (FRA) / F Santoro (FRA) vs [2] S Aspelin (SWE) / J Knowle (AUT) - After suitable rest

COURT 3 start 3:30 pm
F Lopez (ESP) vs [8] T Berdych (CZE)
Not Before 5:00 PM
M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) vs P Kohlschreiber (GER) / M Youzhny (RUS)

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Singles - Second Round
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [Q] M Ledovskikh (RUS) 64 60
[3] N Djokovic (SRB) d F Santoro (FRA) 63 76(3)
[4] D Ferrer (ESP) d O Rochus (BEL) 36 75 61
[5] N Davydenko (RUS) d [Q] J Hernych (CZE) 61 64
[6] A Roddick (USA) d P-H Mathieu 63 64
I Andreev (RUS) d [7] R Gasquet (FRA) 63 64
F Lopez (ESP) d [8] T Berdych (CZE) 62 75
A Murray (GBR) d F Verdasco (ESP) 63 36 76(5)


ORDER OF PLAY

THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2008

Please Note: Dubai is +4 hours GMT

CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm
[4] D Ferrer (ESP) vs F Lopez (ESP)
A Murray (GBR) vs [5] N Davydenko (RUS)
Not Before 7:00 PM
[6] A Roddick (USA) vs [2] R Nadal (ESP)
I Andreev (RUS) vs [3] N Djokovic (SRB)

COURT 1 start 3:30 pm
[3] M Damm (CZE) / P Vizner (CZE) vs P Kohlschreiber (GER) / M Youzhny (RUS)
Not Before 5:00 PM
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) vs [WC] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK)
Not Before 8:30 PM
F Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) vs [4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH)

Roddick plays Nadal? That's going to be tough. I'd like to see Andy Murray get at least to the finals.

yep, that should be a very interesting match :ok:

the H2H is 2-1 to Nadal, but 1-1 on hardcourts (the other match was on clay during the Davis Cup)

in 2004 Roddick beat nadal at the US Open

last year Nadal beat Roddick at Indian Wells

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Singles - Quarter-finals
[6] A Roddick (USA) d [2] R Nadal (ESP) 76(5) 62
[3] N Djokovic (SRB) d I Andreev (RUS) 62 61
F Lopez (ESP) d [4] D Ferrer (ESP) 64 63
[5] N Davydenko (RUS) d A Murray (GBR) 75 64

ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY

CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm
[5] N Davydenko (RUS) vs F Lopez (ESP)
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) vs [3] M Damm (CZE) / P Vizner (CZE)

Not Before 7:00 PM
[3] N Djokovic (SRB) vs [6] A Roddick (USA)
[4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) vs [2] S Aspelin (SWE) / J Knowle (AUT)

Roddick beat Nadal??? :blink: I said in another forum that this year we might see a variety of good players on both sides and not just one or two dominant players. :D

Roddick's game is far more suited to hard court than Nadals .

yeah, Roddick is generally better on hard courts than Nadal is. But i think you're right - we're going to get a few more players making an impact this year B)

It's more like the contents of an entire salt shaker for me ...

Catching up

Final to be Lopez v Roddick

times

Great to see Lopez reaching a final - very stylish player, but he only ever seems to have 3-4 decent tournaments a year - we won't probably hear much of him from now until grasscourt season...

I think Roddick will take a 1st set tie-break then win the 2nd 6-4.

Dubai always gets most of the best players (pays silly money) but isn't that big a tournament - it isn't a Masters, and I would say that its not even as important to win as say Queens or Halle. I'm looking forward to Indian Wells - Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all have a lot to prove.

Roddick sees off Lopez in Dubai


American sixth seed Andy Roddick won the Dubai Championships with a 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 6-2 victory over unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
Roddick earned his 25th career title and his second of the year after winning in San Jose last month.

He went through the entire week without dropping his serve, and did not face a break point in the final.

Roddick claimed the scalps of world number two Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic en route to the final.


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:clap: well done Roddick

Yes I am pleased for him. I think he did very well :ok:

Good for Lopez too, he had a great week and played well in the final also :clap:

Maybe Roddicks the dark horse who this year who will win another Slam ? You never know , stranger things have happened :shrug:

If he did I woudl nto find ti that strange in the current circumstances. A couple fo years back we wrote him off because his game was limited, he was off the boil and also becuase fo Federer - he just couldn't touch him at Wimby, and I think he met him at the USO and didn't have enough either. Although I might be wrong but I think he won a set.

Now we have a less than in form Fed, with mental doubts and a phsycial illness, and in form revitalised Roddick who has made some inprovements to his game. Roddick woudl not be considered the fave to take advantage if Fed slipped up BUT now he has just beaten the two guys most likely to take advantage of Fed in the same week - Djoko and Nadal - so anythingn is possible. If Roddick keeps this level up Wimby coudl eb interesting.

Its an interesting year ahead of us, but I hope Fed gets back to his best :pray:

Not that everyone would agree with me,but I thought Roddick played this week like vintage Agassi.He was even hitting big forehands on return of serve.
He seemed for the first time to know how to select the right shot.I think what happened to him was similar to Henman when he switched coaches from Felgate to Stefanki.
He tried playing almost the complete opposite,until working with Annacone who helped him to blend the best bits from the two styles he had played.

Similar for Roddick with his game under Gilbert and then Connors,where he went to far the other way,but now has found the security he needs.He's learned to blend the patient with the attack.He could be entering the best 3 years of his career right now.

Indeed, well done A-Rod :ok: Was a great match, quality just slightly dipped in the final set but v entertaining. Lopez was great too.

yeah, it was amazing. There was much more meat on the backhand than there usually is. He looked relieved and unchained in a way, now that he -like you said- finally could afford to be patient. The familiar moments like "o no, he returned my serve, what can i do now?" were surprisingly held back by Arod.
Still i don't think we're in for too many big surprises concerning Roddick. He's just too capricious and imo he lacks mental calmness. With certain amount of luck he could win another slam one day but i think that's about it.