Roger Federer and Dubai - A special relationship with a difficult start
Roger Federer is not only aiming for his 100th career title in Dubai, the Swiss also spends a lot of time on the Gulf in his offseason. What has become a solid love affair has struck badly the very first time the Maestro appears.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Feb 28, 2019, 08:17 am
Jeff Chapman later had to smile about the episode of how it all started in Dubai. With Roger Federer and the ATP million dollar game on the golf course. It was in 2002 that Australian Chapman was the tournament director at the time, and Federer was one of the possible new stars in the industry. But when Federer arrived in Dubai for the elimination games at the fashionable Aviation Club, for his tournament premiere, he had just won the double competition in Rotterdam, he was tired, exhausted, exhausted. He won his first single against Romanian Adrian Voinea, but after that, against Rainer Schüttler, the battery was completely empty. Federer lost 3: 6, 1: 6, in the end he hardly hit a ball.
Chapman was not amused, he made a big discount, announced that Federer would not pay the prize money or an entry bonus. "I was totally loaded. And pretty angry with Roger, ”Chapman said on the 25th anniversary of the tournament two years ago. In the end, however, everything dissolved in a pleasant way between Federer and the tournament organizers in Dubai, it was a memorable turn and the beginning of a long partnership to this day. Federer got his prize money for 2002. And in 2003, the compromise was, Federer should do his best to get his bonus for both years. As is well known, the best was good enough to win no less than the first of seven titles in Dubai. “It was a pretty bizarre story,” says Federer with a smile, “but at that time I didn't feel like laughing. It was about my pride, my reputation. "
Federer is now an ambassador for Dubai
But what has become of this oh-and-noisy start, of this small to medium-sized state affair when it first appears in the glittering city of the United Arab Emirates. Federer is not just a part-time resident of Dubai in his luxury apartment on the chic marina. Over the years, he has also become an ambassador for the principality of the Makthoum ruling family, once described as the "above-the-world" - and the face of the tennis tournament, which is as always held near the expanding international airport. “Dubai is a perfect platform for me to do training blocks in peace during the season. It is also a retreat to recharge your energies, ”says the 37-year-old father of twin daughters and twin sons. Federer often invites other professionals to the Gulf for sparring sessions, such as the Frenchman Lucas Pouille or more recently the Canadian super talent Felix-Auger-Aliassime. Sometimes Federers fans can even follow the exercise program via livestream.
After the first big successes on the biggest stages, Federer had quickly taken a liking to the calmness in Dubai - the anonymity in the vibrant metropolis, in which he could calmly take his time-out and which in the positive sense took little notice of him . "The big plus is the anonymity that I have here," says Federer. This also applies to the training trips that he regularly takes to the aviation club, where the tour caravan meets for the cup matches once a year. There is no crowding, no crowd when the club member Federer arrives, rather a friendly hello and nothing else. You know him, you see him, but you leave him alone, one of the most famous athletes on the planet.
With Agassi on the Burj Al Arab
As in other selected tennis locations, of course in his hometown of Basel or in the German Halle, Federer is also a kind of foreign minister here in Dubai - one who does his diplomatic services in a relaxed manner. Hardly any other has given the booming city with its futuristic skyscraper gorges and the high-speed leisure industry as sustained and persistent attention as Federer, the 2005 photo with the Swiss and his former American rival Agassi on the helicopter. The landing place of the seven-star Burj Al Arab Palace is even iconic for the developmental history of the up-and-coming Dubai. "It is incredible how the city grew," says Federer. You could also say that they both grew more and more: Dubai and Federer.
If it is up to the tournament makers of Dubai Duty Free, the rulers of duty-free sales, Federer remains in the game even after his active career. "I wanted Roger to be involved in our tournament in an ambassadorial role," said Duty Free Impresario Colm McLoughlin, who once kicked off the tennis championships. It is possible that Federer will also appear in a cooperation for Expo 2020, the world exhibition that will take place in the Emirate from October 2020. If he still played tennis, he would be there for some time in winter, maybe even at the tournament of 2021, the world exhibition would still be running. But even Federer cannot and does not want to look that far, the man who has been the desert king in the tent roof arena seven times.