Young Guns Challenge For The Title

Young guns Bernard Tomic of Australia and Somdev Devvarman of India have set their sights on making a major impact at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships later this month.

The two exciting youngsters will hope to make a strong bid for the title by upsetting the established names who will be competing as favourites, including defending Dubai champion Roger Federer, world number one and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 2009 US Open winner Juan Martin Del Potro and 2012 Davis Cup winner Tomas Berdych.

Twenty-year old Tomic has just come off a phenomenally successful Australian hardcourt season where he thrilled home fans by winning all his singles matches, including against Novak Djokovic, at the Hopman Cup, claiming his first ATP World Tour title in Sydney and then drawing praise from Federer after they clashed in the third round of the Australian Open.
Devvarman is seven years Tomic’s senior, but he is still young in pro Tour experience after honing his skills on the United States collegiate circuit where he became NCAA champion for two straight years. Later, he won the singles gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and then singles and doubles gold at the Asian Games.

“These two players are exciting to watch and have enjoyed considerable success, with Tomic recently winning his first title and Devvarman claiming a win over John Isner during their college days,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman of Tournament owners and organisers Dubai Duty Free. “Although they will face strong opposition from six members of the world’s top 10, no-one would dismiss their chances of advancing far into the tournament. We wish them both well.”

Tomic’s start to the year was quite a turnaround from the end of last season when poor scheduling saw him burnout and draw scorn for a lack of effort. The break before the 2013 season got underway gave him time to reflect, plan his schedule more carefully so he doesn’t play more than three events in succession, and to work hard on his game.

“It was obviously hard, but I’ve learnt. It’s just a learning curve,” he said. “I’m happy it all happened in a way because you learn from your mistakes. Now I can continue to go forward and look to something bright this year.

“I really committed and worked extremely hard over the (Australian) summer. I learnt a lot from myself. I learnt when you do work hard and when you’re disciplined and you put a lot of hours in on the court you improve a lot and you improve quickly. It’s just a matter of time when I get up to the big group of boys in the top 10. It’s a challenge, but I’ve committed to myself.”

While Tomic is making his Dubai debut, Devvarman has played the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships twice before, qualifying and reaching the second round in 2010 and then having the misfortune to draw Federer in the first round in 2011. Last year he was unable to play due to a shoulder injury that made him miss the first six months of the year.

He made slow progress when he was able to return to competition, but he demonstrated in the second round of the Australian Open than he can now compete as long and as strongly as anyone when he fought until 7-5 in the fifth set before conceding to world number 26 Jerzy Janowicz.

The ATP World Tour event takes place between 25th February and 2nd March and follows the WTA tournament that features an incredible nine of the world’s top 10. Beginning on 18th February, the greatest tennis show in the Middle East will feature Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams as well as former Grand Slam winners Petra Kvitova, Li Na, Ana Ivanovic, Samantha Stosur, as well as defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Tickets for the event are on sale from the Box Office at the Dubai Tennis Stadium, Garhoud which is open from 9am to 9pm daily. Grandstand ticket prices range from 50dhs for opening rounds to 450dhs for finals, with season tickets also available.

For further information about tickets, prices and the tournament phone the call centre on +971 4 4172415.

Emirate:  Dubai

Date: Feb 10, 2013

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