2009 Dubai Tennis Championships

The 2009 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships was a 500 Series event on the 2009 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2009 WTA Tour. Both of the events took place at The Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The women's tournament took place from 15 to 21 February 2009, while the men's tournament took place from 23 to 28 February 2009.

2009 Dubai Tennis Championships
Date23–28 February (men)
15 – 21 February (Women)
Edition17th (men) / 9th (women)
CategoryATP World Tour 500 (men)
WTA Premier 5 event (woman)
LocationDubai, United Arab Emirates
VenueAviation Club Tennis Centre
Champions
Men's singles
Serbia Novak Djokovic
Women's singles
United States Venus Williams
Men's doubles
South Africa Rik de Voest / Russia Dmitry Tursunov
Women's doubles
Zimbabwe Cara Black / United States Liezel Huber

The men's draw was led by only 3 of the world's Top 10 men: ATP No. 3 Novak Djokovic, Doha, Rotterdam champion Andy Murray and ATP No. 8 Gilles Simon. Australian Open runner-up and four-time champion Roger Federer was scheduled to take part, however he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a back injury. ATP No. 1, Rotterdam finalist, 2006 titlist & recent Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal was also due to compete but was also forced to withdraw from the event due to a knee injury sustained at the previous event in Rotterdam.[1] Defending champion Andy Roddick withdrew from the event due to the Shahar Pe'er incident and chose not to defend his title as a protest. Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco were also scheduled to play but withdrew due to injuries.[2][3]

In the women's event, nine of the ten highest ranked players participated. The top four seeds were Serena Williams, the 2009 Australian Open champion, Dinara Safina, the 2009 Australian Open runner-up, Jelena Janković, a former World No. 1, and Elena Dementieva, the runner-up at the recent Open GDF SUEZ tournament in Paris. Also in the field were Vera Zvonareva, a 2009 Australian Open semifinalist and winner of the recent Pattaya Women's Open, Venus Williams, the reigning Wimbledon champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Ana Ivanovic.

Shahar Pe'er controversy

The tournament became embroiled in controversy when the Dubai government refused to grant a visa to Israeli player Shahar Pe'er, denying her the ability to take part in the 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships. The refusal to allow Pe'er to participate drew immense criticism from top seed players. WTA chief executive Larry Scott said the women's tour was "deeply disappointed" by the decision. "Ms. Pe'er has earned the right to play in the tournament and it's regrettable that the UAE is denying her this right", he said. "Ms. Peer and her family are obviously extremely upset and disappointed by the decision of the UAE and its impact on her personally and professionally." Scott said the WTA would "review appropriate future actions with regard to the future of the Dubai tournament".[4] In reaction to the move, the Tennis Channel decided not to televise the event,[5][6] and The Wall Street Journal dropped its sponsorship.[7] In response to the move by the UAE, the Dubai Tennis Championship was fined a record US$300,000. Pe'er was awarded US$44,250, an amount equal to the average prize money she earned per tournament in 2008.[8] A number of highly ranked tennis players, including 2008 winner Andy Roddick, pulled out of the men's ATP tournament in Dubai in protest. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal also pulled out of the tournament, although they both cited injury as their reason for withdrawal, not the incident involving Pe'er. The WTA Tour Board also demanded that Dubai organizers confirm that qualifying Israeli players will get visas at least eight weeks in advance for the 2010 event.

WTA entrants

Seeds
Athlete Nationality Ranking* Seeding
Serena Williams United States United States 1 1
Dinara Safina Russia Russia 2 2
Jelena Janković Serbia Serbia 3 3
Elena Dementieva Russia Russia 4 4
Vera Zvonareva Russia Russia 5 5
Venus Williams United States United States 6 6
Svetlana Kuznetsova Russia Russia 7 7
Ana Ivanovic Serbia Serbia 8 8
Agnieszka Radwańska Poland Poland 10 9
Alizé Cornet France France 11 10
Marion Bartoli France France 13 11
Dominika Cibulková Slovakia Slovakia 18 12
Zheng Jie China China 20 13
Anabel Medina Garrigues Spain Spain 21 14
Anna Chakvetadze Russia Russia 23 15
Kaia Kanepi Estonia Estonia 24 16
  • Rankings as of 16 February 2009.

Other entrants

The following players received wildcards into the main draw:

The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:

The following players received the lucky loser spots:

ATP entrants

Seeds
Athlete Nationality Ranking* Seeding
Novak Djokovic Serbia Serbia 3 1
Andy Murray United Kingdom Great Britain 4 2
Gilles Simon France France 8 3
David Ferrer Spain Spain 14 4
Marin Čilić Croatia Croatia 19 5
Igor Andreev Russia Russia 24 6
Ivo Karlović Croatia Croatia 29 7
Marat Safin Russia Russia 25 8
  • Rankings as of 23 February 2009.

Other entrants

The following players received wildcards into the main draw:

The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:

The following player received the lucky loser spot:

Finals

Men's singles
Main article: 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's singles

Serbia Novak Djokovic defeated Spain David Ferrer 7–5, 6–3

  • It was Djokovic's first title of the year and 12th of his career.

Women's singles
Main article: 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's singles

United States Venus Williams defeated France Virginie Razzano 6–4, 6–2

  • It was Venus' first title of the year and 40th of her career.

Men's doubles
Main article: 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's doubles

South Africa Rik de Voest / Russia Dmitry Tursunov defeated Czech Republic Martin Damm / Sweden Robert Lindstedt 4–6, 6–3, [10–5]

Women's doubles
Main article: 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's doubles

Zimbabwe Cara Black / United States Liezel Huber defeated Russia Maria Kirilenko / Poland Agnieszka Radwańska 6–3, 6–3

References
  1. "Nadal follows Federer, pulls out of Dubai". National Post. Canada. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  2. "Roddick withdraws from Dubai championships". Reuters India. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  3. "Player withdrawals hit men's Dubai tennis event". Associated Press. 21 February 2009. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  4. "Israeli Peer refused Dubai visa". BBS Sport. BBC. 15 February 2009. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
  5. "ESPN.com - Tennis Channel cancels Dubai coverage". www.espn.com.
  6. Sandomir, Richard. "Tennis Channel Won’t Televise Dubai Event in Protest." The New York Times. 16 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  7. Ovide, Shira. "Journal Drops Dubai Tennis Sponsorship." The Wall Street Journal. 18 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009. Archived 21 June 2009.
  8. "Dubai given record fine over Peer". BBC News. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
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