HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani watching the match between defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain and Michael Berrer of Germany at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. Also seen are ExxonMobil president and general manager Alistair Routledge, Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) president Nasser Ghanim al-Khelaifi, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker, QTF secretary general Yousef Mohamed al-Obaidly and Karim Alami, tournament director, Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Nadal’s ability to make a quick recovery from multiple ailments was thrown into doubt yesterday as he lost 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Berrer. The match was Nadal’s first of the 2015 ATP World Tour and he appeared to have had insufficient time to recover from an appendectomy, and far too little match practice over the last two months. Earlier Novak Djokovic, who succeeded Nadal as world number one in June, made a satisfactory start with a 6-1, 6-4 win over his Serbian compatriot Dusan Lajovic. PICTURE: Jayan Orma
