It feels like a Grand Slam, says Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships official

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is the premier tennis event in the Middle East, welcoming the planet’s best players with world-class infrastructure and an event watched around the globe. Yet it has not always been like this.

Back in 1993, the inaugural men’s ATP event was held within a temporary structure at the Aviation Club, watched on by some 3,000 spectators. By the time the inaugural women’s WTA event was held eight years later, the Dubai Tennis Stadium was in place. It proved a monumental occasion: World No1 Martina Hingis playing and winning in Dubai.

It was a monumental occasion also for Sheetal Iyer, who was a line umpire at that first WTA tournament. Little did she know, she would return every year for the next 24. In WTA 1000 tournament, Iyer was back in town once more, this time as WTA referee.

“It’s very emotional,” she said. “It’s come full circle. I started here, and as the Dubai Open has grown, so have I. I’ve moved up and become a referee. It’s been an amazing journey. I’m just so happy with how things have gone.”

Iyer, Asia’s only female gold badge referee, insists the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship has always been a high-profile tournament.

“For me, it always felt more like a Grand Slam – and it still does. It was something special; If you’re selected for the Dubai Open, it means you are doing something right. It has its history; it has all the big things.”

The 54-year-old Indian said the referees always looked up to being there at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“When I first came here as a line umpire, I used to look at the referees and supervisors and think: ‘I wish I could do that’,” Iyer said. “Never at any time did I think I would one day be doing it, but here we are.”

Iyer, who has officiated for four editions of the quadrennial Asian Games, said the annual Championships has grown significantly over the years — it recently attained the WTA 1000 status. “Dubai Open at that time also was very popular, and it has grown, and it’s getting better and better every year. And this year, as 1000, is just amazing.”

Iyer’s brother Nitin Kannamwar also officiates and was serving as Chief of Umpires at the ATP 500 event which ended on Saturday.

The siblings have worked together at the same events and always have a lot of fun.

“We did the Asian Games together where he was the boss and I was working as an assistant referee to him. That was great. Then this year I did a WTA event in Canberra where I was the supervisor, and he was the referee, so it’s interesting and unusual. He’s my brother and I look up to him, so it’s nice,” she said.

Iyer was not the only sports official involved this month who has memories of the tournament’s early days.

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