Qatar Airways and QDF back ATP tourney in Doha

QatarAirways and Qatar Duty Free (QDF) will celebrate the opening of thehighly-anticipated Qatar ExxonMobil Open Men’s Tennis Tournament 2018,as the Official Airline and Retail Sponsors.World number-fiveDominic Thiem of Austria leads the lineup of competitors at this year’schampionship, which will host 32 singles players and 16 doubles teamsduring the exciting six-day event, where all eyes will be on the world’stop players to see who will take home this year’s winning title. Thetournament will be held at the state-of-the-art Khalifa InternationalTennis and Squash Complex in Doha from 1-6 January 2018.Qatar Airways Senior Vice President Marketing and Corporate Communications, Salam al-Shawa,said: “Qatar Airways is thrilled to once again be the official airlinepartner of the ExxonMobil Open Men’s Tennis Tournament in Qatar.Together we have attracted the world’s most talented tennis players toQatar to compete in this fantastic championship.“This annualcompetition has become a major highlight on Qatar’s sporting calendar,drawing thousands of international and local fans alike to watch some ofthe best players in the world compete. Spectators can be certain theevent will serve up some amazing matches during the course of thecompetition. Qatar Airways believes in the power of sport bringingpeople together, and is proud to support Qatar’s emergence as aworld-class sports and entertainment destination.”Senior VicePresident Qatar Duty Free, Luis Gasset, said: “Qatar Duty Free isthrilled to participate in this fantastic event and welcomes visitors ofall ages to watch the competition. We will ensure that spectators areable to sample Qatar’s world-famous hospitality and are warmly welcomedby Qatar Duty Free. “Special prizes are available at our Qatar Duty Freebooth, and four lucky winners will walk away with amazing gifts signedby the tournament’s top players.”Both Qatar Airways and Qatar DutyFree will mark their presence at the event by hosting special booths atthe sponsors’ village, offering tennis fans a taste of their world-classhospitality. Qatar Duty Free will also display unique gifts signed bythe players, providing  four lucky fans with the chance to win them.QatarAirways, the Official Airline partner of FIFA, is a leading supporterof major global sporting events, including the 2018 FIFA World CupRussia and the FIFA Club World Cup.The award-winning airlinereceived a number of accolades in 2017, including ‘Airline of the Year’by the prestigious 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards, which was held atthe Paris Air Show.Live on beINbeIN will cover live the Qatar ExxonMobil Open beginning in Doha today at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.AndyKerr and Nicky Crosby will be joined by former tennis star PrakashAmritraj to preview and recap the day’s play on beIN SPORTS HD12.Coverage gets underway at 3pm everyday throughout the tournament, withArabic coverage also available on beIN SPORTS HD9. Today’s Order of Play3.30pm: Centre Court: Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) vs Andrey Rublev (RUS); Court 1: 7-Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs Dudi Sela (ISR) 3.30pm;Court 2: Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) & Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)vs Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) & Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 3.30pm.Notbefore 5.30pm: 1-Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) on CentreCourt; 3-Feliciano Lopez (ESP) & Rajeev Ram (USA) vs (WC) MalekJaziri (TUN) & Mousa Shanan Zayed (QAT) on Court 1; Filip Krajinovic(SRB) & Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs Borna Coric (CRO) & jan-LennardStruff (GER) on Court 2.Later: Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) vs NikolozBasilashvili (GEO) on Centre Court; 1-Jamie Murray (GBR) & BrunoSoares (BRA) vs Marcin Matkowski (POL) & Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)on Court 1.Followed by: Florian Mayer (GER) vs Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) on Centre Court.