Dubai Preview: A rivalry resumed?

To a purist, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships probably represents everything that’s wrong with tennis today: it’s got too much glitz and glamour, it’s played on that hybrid monstrosity they call hardcourts, it pays obscene amounts of money to the stars just for showing up, and it’s got almost no historical significance. Oh, the horror – the noble game of tennis being brutalized and bent out of shape with all that vulgar money floating around! But this kind of exaggerated indignation is exactly why you’ve got to love the purists – it just makes it that much more fun to see them proven wrong. This year, 8 out of the top 10 players in the world have decided to descend into the desertland to fight for the title. That’s right – 8 out of 10. Purist’s face – meet egg. Egg – meet the most hilariously furious pair of eyes you’ll ever meet. The prize money in a tournament like Dubai alone is enough to make most players drop everything they’re holding and come scurrying into the heart of the Middle East, desperate for their share of the pie. Sure, there’s only a thin line that separates Dubai from an exhibition, but the dominance of top-shelf players like Justine Henin, Roger Federer and, more recently, Novak Djokovic pushes Dubai into the sphere of respectably competitive events on the tennis calendar.

Missing from action this year is that purist of purists, Rafael Nadal. The man had decided to take a month off after the Australian Open to give some rest to his body after that bruising final against Djokovic, and we should only applaud him for sticking to that decision. Taking centrestage instead, then, will be the remaining 3 members of the Big Four. Or should I say remaining two members of the Big Three? While Andy Murray put on an heroic effort in the Australian semis alright (an effort that was almost drowned into oblivion by the dramatic final that followed it), his post-Australia blues have become something of a trademark. In 2010, he went into a prolonged downward spiral after being demolished by Federer in the final at Melbourne, losing early-round matches in all parts of the world before recovering somewhat at Wimbledon. In 2011 he went one step lower, losing three consecutive opening round matches after that crushing loss to Djokovic in the Australian final, before righting the ship on clay at Madrid. Will he buck the trend this year by making a deep run at Dubai? In a 32-player draw, there are almost no gimmes, even in the early rounds; Murray will be tested early by the recently resurgent Nikolay Davydenko in the second round, before squaring off against Tomas Berdych. If he gets past that hurdle, Djokovic awaits in the semis. Yeah, I know, it’s tough being a tennis pro (just for dramatic effect, we’ll forget those handsome paychecks for the moment).

Federer has the likes of Marseille finalist Michael Llodra (how is it even humanly possible to play the final of one tournament, travel halfway across the globe, and play the first rounder of another tournament, all in the space of 48 hours?), Feliciano Lopez and Mardy Fish in his path, before a possible semifinal clash against either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Juan Martin del Potro. Djokovic, meanwhile, seems to have the easiest draw of the three (or do we just feel that because of his unreal level of play lately?), possibly having to do battle against such heavyweights as Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Sergiy Stakhovsky and countryman Janko Tipsarevic. If everything pans out according to the seedings – which is not so unthinkable given the consistency of the top male players lately – then Federer and Djokovic will face off in the final, just like they did last year.

When Djokovic whipped Federer 6-3, 6-3 in the 2011 final, we had no idea that it was a sign of things to come. Armed with two consecutive victories over Federer (Djokovic had also defeated Federer in the 2011 Australian Open semifinal), Djokovic went on an unprecedented spree, brushing aside every opponent with the kind of authority rarely seen in tennis history. Still, it can’t be denied that Federer held his own in his subsequent matches against Djokovic through the rest of 2011, memorably ending the Serb’s 43-match winning streak at Roland Garros and holding two match points against him at the US Open. While Nadal and Djokovic were doing the heavy lifting, trading blows and grinding out matches on the biggest stages, Federer and Djokovic were busy creating the best rivalry of 2011, a rivalry filled with spectacular shot-making and lightning-quick, offensive tennis that sometimes seemed to be from another planet. The rallies may not have been as long as those found in a typical Nadal-Djokovic match, but they were infinitely more appealing to the eye. There was an urgency, a sense of purpose, to the play of both men that was difficult to find in any other match-up, and it made for some beautiful tennis.

It might be asking a little too much from Federer and Djokovic to resume their rivalry exactly where they left off, because matches like their last tussle, the US Open semifinal, don’t happen everyday. But if they do reach the final, and if they do bring their best tennis to the court when they reach there, we might just be in for another memorable contest. And you can bet that this one won’t take 5 hours to produce a winner. That can only be a good thing, right?