An incredible field in Dubai as usual. Hope Andy plays, I remember this tourney was live last year, but can't remember what channel.

Just a wee bump for this thread as it is Andy's next event........Tsonga is out apparently.

I presume will will have Jamie in the dubs...and that would be it...unless Baker goes for the qualies (Thats a joke folks...his ranking would be to low anyway...I think).

Last 4 winners here...Rafa 07 and Fed 04 to 06....Murray in 08 ?

Looks like Andy won't be seeded so could be Fed/Rafa of Djoko in R1!

Josh wrote:

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Drew wrote:

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Just a wee bump for this thread as it is Andy's next event........Tsonga is out apparently.

I presume will will have Jamie in the dubs...and that would be it...unless Baker goes for the qualies (Thats a joke folks...his ranking would be to low anyway...I think).

Last 4 winners here...Rafa 07 and Fed 04 to 06....Murray in 08 ?

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The qualies cut is now 435

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And it finished at 687!!!!!!

And then Cilic got promoted into the main draw, meaning an alternate got in.... that man being Gregory Howe who has Jan Minar in the first round

ForeverDelayed wrote:

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Josh wrote:

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The qualies cut is now 435

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And it finished at 687!!!!!!

And then Cilic got promoted into the main draw, meaning an alternate got in.... that man being Gregory Howe who has Jan Minar in the first round

 

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 Gregory Howe is ranked 1312! He must have been the only guy around able to take up the place.

It's not official yet.... but this article about the draw is very interesting

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/189232,federer-to-face-murray-in-dubai-opening-round.html

Dubai, UAE - Roger Federer will resume his season after one month away with an opening match against Briton Andy Murray in the first round of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. The luck could not have been worse for Murray at Saturday's draw, as he will face the world number one for the third time in a series which stands 1-all.

Murray, ranked 12th and with an ATP-best pair of titles in 2008, is coming off a first-round collapse last month in Rotterdam, losing an opening match against Robin Haase of the Netherlands.

Federer has not played since losing in the Australian Open semi-finals in straight sets to Novak Djokovic.

The tournament punches above its weight on the Tour, featuring eight of the Top ten players in the world.

Federer lost to Murray in their last match in Cincinnati, August, 2006, coming off of a title in Canada three days earlier. The Swiss won their first match in Bangkok a year earlier.

Second seed Nadal will be looking for redemption this week after joining Murray as a victim in Rotterdam indoors. The Spaniard opens in Dubai in the first round against German Philip Kohlschreiber.

Third-seed Djokovic, who fitness has been suspect since winning his Grand Slam title in Melbourne, plays Croatian Marin Cilic.

The Serb quit a Davis Cup match through illness and lost listlessly the next week in the Marseille second round before pulling out of Rotterdam.

American Andy Roddick, the last holdout at the big-money event among top players, is due to make his debut after flying in from Memphis, playing fellow former Grand Slam winner Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in the first round.


What a first round draw if it is the case!!!

Terrible draw if it is Federer, but it is the best time to play him as he hasn't played for a long time as he takes a while to get into his stride again (last year he dropped a set to Pless, had to save match points against Suzuki in Tokyo a couple years ago, he struggled against Seppi in Monte Carlo)