A
brief history of tennis in the State of Qatar:
Professional tennis in
Qatar started small but strong…
It began with
exhibition tournaments featuring distinguished players such
as Ismail Al Shafi and Vijay Amritraj. Due to the success of
these games, it was decided that an official organization be
created… and on 9th April 1984 the Qatar Tennis Federation was
formed.
Immediately after the
coordination of the federation, the Ministry of Education was
contacted so that children from primary schools could be
introduced to tennis . The best aspiring youngsters were
selected and given the opportunity to be trained by Arab and
International professional trainers through the federation.
In 1987 came a very
important move in Qatari tennis with the introduction of the
game to major sports clubs in the entire country.
Tennis was now being
played Al Arabi, Al Saad, Al Ahli, and Al Rayyan sports
clubs. The emergence of league and cup competitions between
all ages began with juniors, under 14’s, under 18’s and men
taking part. This important move contributed to the
development of tennis and the number of tennis courts and
players increased.
In 1991 facilities at
the Qatar Tennis Federation had increased including the
number of tennis courts and on 16th December 1992 the ultra
modern Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha was
inaugurated by HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani The Emir
of the State of Qatar..
The first ATP Qatar Open
for men was held in January 1993 and over the years many top
ranked players have played including.…Boris Becker, Stefan
Edberq, Pete Sampras, Goran Ivanisevic, Thomas Muster, Jim
Courier, Petr Korda, Marcelo Rios, Marat Safin, Younes El
Aynaoui, Thomas Enquist, Nicolas Kiefer, Marc Rosset, Fabrice
Santoro, Sergi Brugera Juan Carlos Ferro and the maestro Roger
Federer who is the current QatarExxonMobil Open champion. This
event has total prize money of US$1.Million
From 1998 until 2001
tennis lovers in Qatar were very lucky to watch such greats
as John McKenroe, Bjorn Borg, Pat Cash, Henri Leconte, Yannick
Noah, Mants Wilander, Andres Gomez, Mansour Bahrami and others
play in the ATP Senior Tour of champions.
Due to the major
development in the sport for women in Qatar the Qatar Tennis
Federation took the major step in organizing the first ladies
tennis championship to be held in the Middle East. Starting
in 2001 the Qatar Open attracted the greatest women players
from the WTA tour ….Martina Hingis, Mary Pierce, Sandrine
Testud , Arantxa Sanchez Vicario , Barbara Schett, Justine
Henin-Hardenne and Amelie Maresmo all received worldwide TV
and Media coverage. The sponsors, media, WTA Tour and all the
players voted our glittering opening and closing ceremonies as
the best to be conducted in tennis worldwide.
In 2004 the Qatar Total
Open for women was upgraded to the new Tier II with a total
prize money of US$600,000.
Adding to an impressive
list of regional and international events, QTF also organizes
the ladies ITF tournament with prize money of US$ 25,000 as
well as two men’s Futures Tournaments with prize money of
US$15,000 each.
The Qatar Tennis
Federation continues to hold world class events in this great
country The State of Qatar with steadfast commitment and
enthusiasm which is clearly evident in the professional
organization of the annual international tennis
championships every year. From the very first international
tournament held in January 1993 the aim of the Qatar Tennis
Federation is not only to establish these championships….but
to secure its continuity as THE annual sporting fixture and
also to promote the games standards and increase the
popularity of tennis in the country.
Consequently the
standard of Qatari players has risen by their participation in
tournaments and by them being able to come into contact with
professional players. Most of the objectives have been
achieved and the success story of these championships is the
main reason the organizers continue to work hard to maintain
the importance of the annual international ‘Qatar Opens’ and
their position in the world today.
We are proud that here
in Qatar and throughout the world, tennis enthusiasts always
check their calendars for the dates of the next Qatar Open
After the success
achieved by the Qatar Opens it has been necessary to develop
local seasons and initiate new tournaments. Previously there
were just three local tournaments organized, now due to this
great progress there are now numerous tournaments including
those of private clubs and company championships held on a
regular basis.
The official authorities
in Qatar in their aim to encourage and meet the needs of
independently organized tennis events, made a decision to
cancel tennis matches being held in sports clubs and bring the
organization of all tournaments under the full supervision of
the Qatar Tennis Federation.
To effectively institute
this procedure, the Qatar Tennis Federation hired
professional coaches, instituted professional training
programmes and established training centers in schools which
all have their own practice sessions.
Tennis centers have now
been established in Umm Said, AlKhor and Dukhan City.
QATAR TELECOM GERMAN
OPEN
BERLIN GERMANY
An amazing accolade to
the dynamism of the organizing abilities of the Qatar Tennis
Federation is staging of the Tier 1 ‘Qatar Telecom German
Open’ Berlin in 2005 and 2006.
The Qatar Tennis
Federation bought the Tier 1 Berlin Open from the German
Tennis Federation . This WTA tournament attracts the
worlds leading women tennis stars. This is the first for a
country from the Middle East has bought, organized and
hosted a tournament in another country. This achievement
has been able to open up a wide area of opportunities for
Qatar in sports, tourism and business.
Next year 2007 QTF
will be back again in Berlin with renewed confidence to once
again stage another memorable event .
ATP MASTERS SERIES
HAMBURG- GERMANY
The Qatar Tennis
Federation together with its partners Qatar Telecom and
ExxonMobil was very proud to gave its support to the men’s
Tier I ATP Masters series tournament which was held in
Hamburg in 2006.
