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| From L-R: Tennis players Viktor Troicki, Nikolay Davydenko, Alex Bogomolov Jr., Sergei Bubka and Malek Jaziri are seen with president of Qatar Tennis Federation Nasser al-Khelaifi (C), sporting director of French top-flight football club Paris Saint-Germain Leonardo (5R) during the draw for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open Tennis Championship held at the Ritz Carlton in Doha yesterday. Also seen are tournament director Karim Alami, QTF general secretary Yousef al-Obaidly, assistant general secretary Tariq Darwish Zainal and head of national team committee Khalid al-Khelaifi |
The New Year starts with two bigwigs locking horns with each other, first up, in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open that gets underway in earnest tomorrow at the Khalifa Tennis Complex.
There were smiles all round after Russian ace Nikolay Davydenko was pitted against defending champion Roger Federer in the first round during the draw that took place on New Year’s eve.
“I would have liked to play him at the last rather than at the beginning of the tournament. Hopefully, he (Federer) would take it easy and I will get some chance,” said Davydenko, who was among the early birds to arrive in Doha for the season opening tournament.
Federer reclaimed the Qatar ExxonMobil Open trophy in 2011 after he dethroned then defending champion Davydenko 6-3, 6-4. The Swiss player captured the title for the third time, following back-to-back triumphs in 2005 beating Ivan Ljubicic and in 2006 beating Gael Monfils.
World No 2 and top seed Rafael Nadal, who has a 11-4 record in Doha, competes at the ATP World Tour 250th tournament for the fifth time and will take on German Philipp Kohlschreiber. Nadal was the runner-up to Davydenko in 2010.
Third seed Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the 2011 semi-finals without dropping a set before eventually losing to Federer on his debut in Doha. Tsonga starts his campaign taking on 2011 Arab Games gold medallist and wild card entrant Malek Jaziri of Tunisia in round one.
“It is a great platform for me and I would like to give my best. Winning the Arab Games was good and I’m grateful for the Qatar Tennis Federation for giving me a wild card. Playing against Tsonga will be a great experience and I would like to make the most of it,” said Jaziri, who is currently ranked 118th.
Fourth seed and World No 16 Gael Monfils, the 2005 runner-up, competes in Doha for the first time in three years after he fell to Andy Roddick in the semi-finals. Monfils will meet Rui Machado of Portugal.
This season will also see son of the legendary pole vaulter Sergei Bubka nick-named ‘Bubka Junior’ in action. The 24-yr-old also got a wild card entry for this tournament and will be meeting a qualifier in round one. Fifth seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia will have to tackle Czech Lukas Rosol. Qatar’s Al Mutawa has also managed a wild card and will play Italy’s Flavio Cipolla.