Even WTA was not happy with withdrawals, says Salah Tahlak

Salah Tahlak admitted that Dubai Duty Free, organisers of the Dubai Tennis Championships, were not happy with the withdrawals of several big names from the women's tournament at the last minute.

World number one Serena Williams, Australian Open champion and world number two Angelique Kerber, world number three Agnieszka Radwanska and crowd favourite Caroline Wozniacki pulled out of the WTA event of the championships due to injuries and health related issues.

The biggest disappointments were Serena and Kerber who decided to pull out of the hugely popular event at the last minute, denying their Dubai fans a chance to witness a rematch after their riveting battle in the Australian Open final in which the German beat the American superstar for her maiden Grand Slam title.

Tahlak, Tournament Director, was candid about his feeling s when Khaleej Times spoke to him.

"Yes, we are not happy at all with all the withdrawals," Tahlak said.

"There were five withdrawals in the women's event. It was not easy, but at the end of the day it's also a serious issue for the WTA because the players will always do what is good for them.

"I spoke to the WTA president as well and they were not happy with the withdrawals at the last minute. They said they would address this issue at the next board meeting," Tahlak informed.

Naturally, the first week of the tournament failed to attract big crowds.

"Of course, we were not happy with the attendance at the beginning. We were not selling tickets. But we had people towards the later stages of the tournament.

"So I thought that was OK. The last two days were good, at least 60 per cent of the seats were occupied.

"Overall, we are not very happy, but sometimes we have to live with it. Hopefully next year will be better," Tahlak said.

The Tournament Director was looking forward to watching some exciting tennis in the men's tournament which began on Monday.

"Yes, it's the real tennis, much stronger than women's tennis. I am very happy that Stan Wawrinka will be playing here in Dubai after a long gap.

"It's not going to be easy for Novak (Djokovic). There will be some very tough matches.

"But as long as Novak is there, it's good for the game and the tournament because he brings a lot of crowd.

"Anyway, the men's tennis has always been better than women's tennis. The quality of matches is so high in the men's game. But I have to be fair with the ladies because they produced some great matches here," he said.

"You know, the average duration of the ladies matches was one hour and 45 minutes. Earlier it used to be one hour. So that tells you that the ladies are getting better.

"And despite the withdrawals of the big names, it was still a very tough tournament. All the top seeds were out before the quarterfinal stage. So that shows how competitive it was!

"And Sara Errani played some great tennis here."

Next year, the men's tournament will complete 25 years.

"We have a lot of plans to celebrate the 25 years of the men's tournament next year," Tahlak informed.

"Among the many plans is one to have a 25th year anniversary book. That's in the pipeline now."

rituraj@khaleejtmes.com