KEY POINTS:
Dubai is certainly a special place, an oasis of style and fashion located in the middle of the Arab world, and the venue for this week's stop on the mens ATP tennis tour.
With five out of the world's top ten players in the draw this week, the
tournament carries a lot of prestige. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Nikolai Davydenko, Tommy Robredo and Tommy Haas are all there to thrill the crowds.
On the opening day of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates capital, a special ceremony honoured Switzerland's Roger Federer for achieving the feat of most consecutive weeks at world number one, a record he took off the indomitable Jimmy Connors.
Former champions and players read like a who's who of the tennis world and include Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Stefan Edburg, Pat Cash, Pat Rafter, Thomas Muster and, of course, Federer.
Interestingly, Fabrice Santoro, a finalist at the inaugural 1993 Dubai tournament went on to win the title in 2002, the 10th anniversary of the tournament.
The current champion is Nadal, but the Swiss master will be determined to snatch back the coveted Dubai title that he owned for three consecutive years from 2003-2005.
Last year, to celebrate what has become one of the biggest tournaments in the world outside of the Grand Slams, the event announced a spectacular increase in prize money for 2007, with both the men's and women's purses rising from US$1 million to US$1.5 million.
Opened in 1996, the Dubai tennis stadium itself has become a magnet for people seeking entertainment in Dubai.
The stadium comprises a 5,000 seat centre court, VIP area and Royal enclosure, press office, press interview rooms, Sportsworld Media Group offices, Sanex WTA and ATP Tour offices, TV commentary boxes and changing rooms.
When not being used for the Dubai Tennis Championships, the stadium is also a concert venue, having played to acts such as Sting, Gerri Haliwell, Bryan Adams and the Venga Boys, while former world boxing champion, Chris Eubank, staged his first Middle East bout on centre court in 1997.
