Tennis: Colm McLoughlin tells Khaleej Times how Dubai Tennis became a world-class event

Mcloughlin dream has eventually resulted in Dubai becoming an iconic tennis destination

A gentleman called Jeff Chapman gave Colm Mcloughlin, the executive vice-chairman of Dubai Duty Free, the idea of staging an exhibition tennis match in Dubai with Martina Navratilova on one side of the court.
That exhibition match never happened. But thanks to Chapman's suggestion, Mcloughlin started to dream big which eventually resulted in Dubai becoming an iconic tennis exhibition centre, where some of the world's greatest players have regularly fought for precious ranking points and the honour of lifting the majestic Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship Trophy.
The men's event of the Dubai Tennis Championships will complete 25 years this month.
Mcloughlin, the elegant Irishman, took a trip down memory lane when Khaleej Times met him for an exclusive interview.
First of all congratulations on the men's tournament completing its 25th year. Did you ever think it will become such a big event 25 years later?
I knew at that time that there was an interest in tennis in Dubai which is why we started. We thought it would be very good for the sports scene here and I did not think at that time that 25 years later it would become so big.
I did not realise it at that time because we just had to learn all about the Tour and tennis. I am happy to say that we have a great team in Dubai Duty Free who have done a great job over the years. That's why the tournament has been so successful.
I did not realise at that time that we would be the instigators of equal prize money to the women's players. I did not realise at that time that we would go on to win several awards for the best tennis tournament repeatedly. In 10 of the last 11 years the men have voted our tennis tournament the best 500 series in the world. I did not realise that the ATP and WTA would go on to confirm that the value of our tennis tournament last year, from a media point of view, was worth $820 million.
No, I did not realise all these things. But I am very happy with what we have achieved.
Can you tell our readers how it all started in 1993? What gave you the inspiration to start a premier tennis tournament in Dubai?
It started because a gentleman called Jeff Chapman who used to make TV programmes for TV stations came to us with an idea that we would put on an exhibition match in Dubai and that we would sponsor it. His proposal was to have the exhibition match featuring Martina Navratilova with another player. I went to Australia to see the international office of the ATP. During that visit I discovered that there was a small tournament available for purchase.
I spoke with Mr Bin Hendi who was the boss at the airport at that time and we decided that we would buy that tournament. That's how it started. Because the idea had come from Chapman, we appointed him our tournament director. He did that job for a number of years before we appointed our own Salah Tahlak as Tournament Director. For our first tournament we had to build a temporary stadium that held three thousand people. Then we got the approval to build our new purpose-built stadium. The first tournament at our new stadium was staged in 1996.
Roger Federer said a few years ago that the Dubai event is very close to his heart because he has seen this tournament grow over the years and because he has been a part of this incredible success story. Having the support of such an iconic name is a massive boost, isn't it?
We were pleased about it because Roger Federer first won the tournament in 2003. Since that time he, as you know, has won the tournament seven times. Generally the players love coming to Dubai. And Roger Federer has been the number one player for a long, long time. And to have him comment on our tournament indicates to us is that we have got something right. But a lot of the other players also said that they liked coming to Dubai. And we are very pleased with Roger Federer for comments like that.
Any special memory that you would like to share with our readers? It's been a long journey since 1993.
There are so many memories, you know. I remember very clearly the first tournament was rained out and we had to play the final on Monday rather than on Sunday. And I remember His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched our purpose-built stadium. I am very happy once again when His Highness Sheikh Mohammed attended the tournament on our 20th anniversary.
I also remember the very famous final we watched at 1am one night when Goran Ivanisevic won the singles title. I was very, very happy when we started our ladies tournament and our first winner was Martina Hingis. There are a lot of memories. I remember receiving a letter many years ago from Monica Seles who enjoyed her Dubai visit.
I remember Fabrice Santoro who reached the final in our first tournament in 1993 and who came every year until he won the tournament in 2002. The night before the final he got ill and he was in the hospital. Then they discharged him and he came and won the tournament. You know he was called a magician because he had a different style of play altogether.
There was this iconic image of Andre Agassi and Roger Federer playing on the Burj Al Arab helipad in 2005...
Of course, everybody remembers the very famous tennis match we arranged on the helipad of Burj Al Arab. Roger Federer and Andre Agassi played tennis on the helipad. We were told at that time by the ATP that it was the biggest promotion of a tennis tournament ever and we were also told by the ATP that half the planet had seen it.
You must be very happy with the field this year, with so many big names already confirming their participation?
We have seven of the top 10 women's players for this year. In the men's event we have four of the top 10 and six of the top 20. Since that time Roger Federer has won in Australia, he is now back in the top 10. So we have Andy Murray who is the Olympic champion. Then we have Stanislas Wawrinka. We have (Gael) Monfils and (Tomas) Berdych. As I said, the top players love coming to Dubai because we have the hospitality of the Irish Village on one side and our own Jumeirah Creekside Hotel on the other. The players stay there and they can use the practice courts any time. I think that's why they continue to vote for the tournament as the best in the world.
In future can we expect it to become a part of the prestigious Masters 1000 Series?
I think there are 16 Masters events in the world. It's a longer event. There is a bigger player entry. There is more prize money. But we have always been very satisfied with the entries we get because in our tournament every year the entry is often as good as the Masters tournament. To have a Masters event, we need to have a bigger stadium. I think that's not necessary for our tournament. We have a great relationship with Tennis Emirates. We get the world number one, world number two, world number three. We get the Olympic champion. We get the Australian Open champion.
In the history of our tournament, we have had 18 world number ones play in the men's tennis. Women's number one Serena Williams has played on a number of occasions. Former world number one Justine Henin won our tournament four times. Martina Hingis won our first WTA tournament. Monica Seles also played here. Venus Williams has won it three times here.
So we are very, very thrilled with what we have achieved. Upgrading it to a Masters tournament is not high up on our list at the moment.
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com