Dubai’s tournament director has shockingly claimed that he hopes Roger Federer gets the luck of the draw ahead of the Swiss’ bid for a 100th career title.
In a couple of weeks time the men’s edition of the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will take place where Roger Federer is looking to win a historic 100th career title.
It’s no secret that Federer has a special relationship with Dubai as tournament director Salah Talak explained in a recent interview, “For Roger, Dubai is important because his first official title came in Milan,” Talak said in an interview with the Khaleej Times.
“It was a tournament owned by Dubai Duty Free. It has always been a great bond between Roger and Dubai.” The tournament for Federer will be his first one since his Australian Open defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
However Mr. Talak doesn’t just want Federer to play the tournament he wants him to win it and said that he hopes the seven time champion gets an easy draw, “So it’s very important to have him back. I hope the draw next Saturday will help him,” Talak stated.
“Because if he reaches the final and wins it, it will be the number eight title for him in Dubai and that will also be the 100th title of his career. It will be a magical moment. It will also be a great legacy that he will be leaving behind if he wins his 100th title in Dubai.”
These comments must be damning to those who are competing in the tournament in a couple of weeks which features Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori, Stefanos Tsitsipas and defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut.
The men’s tournament will begin on the 25th of February while the high-profile women’s tournament takes place next week.
