| 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 23–28 February (men) 15 – 21 February (Women) | |||
| Edition | 17th (men) / 9th (women) | |||
| Category | ATP World Tour 500 (men) WTA Premier 5 event (woman) | |||
| Location | Dubai,United Arab Emirates | |||
| Venue | Aviation Club Tennis Centre | |||
| Champions | ||||
| Men's singles | ||||
 Novak Djokovic | ||||
| Women's singles | ||||
 Venus Williams | ||||
| Men's doubles | ||||
 Rik de Voest / Dmitry Tursunov | ||||
| Women's doubles | ||||
 Cara Black /Liezel Huber | ||||
| ||||
The2009Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships was a500 Series event on the2009 ATP World Tour and aPremier 5 event on the2009 WTA Tour. Both of the events took place at The Aviation Club Tennis Centre inDubai, United Arab Emirates. The women's tournament took place from 15 to 21 February 2009, while the men's tournament took placefrom 23 to 28 February 2009.
The men's draw was led by only 3 of the world's Top 10 men: ATP No. 3Novak Djokovic,Doha,Rotterdam championAndy Murray and ATP No. 8Gilles Simon.Australian Open runner-up and four-time championRoger Federer was scheduled to take part, however he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a back injury. ATP No. 1,Rotterdam finalist, 2006 titlist & recentAustralian Open championRafael Nadal was also due to compete but was also forced to withdraw from the event due to a knee injury sustained at the previous event in Rotterdam.[1] Defending championAndy Roddick withdrew from the event due to the Shahar Pe'er incident and chose not to defend his title as a protest.Nikolay Davydenko andFernando Verdasco were also scheduled to play but withdrew due to injuries.[2][3]
In the women's event, nine of the ten highest ranked players participated. The top four seeds wereSerena Williams, the2009 Australian Open champion,Dinara Safina, the 2009 Australian Open runner-up,Jelena Janković, a former World No. 1, andElena Dementieva, the runner-up at the recentOpen GDF SUEZ tournament in Paris. Also in the field wereVera Zvonareva, a 2009 Australian Open semifinalist and winner of the recentPattaya Women's Open,Venus Williams, the reigningWimbledon champion,Svetlana Kuznetsova, andAna Ivanovic.
The tournament became embroiled in controversy when the Dubai government refused to grant avisa toIsraeli playerShahar Pe'er, denying her the ability to take part in the 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships. The refusal to allow Pe'er to participate drew immense criticism from top seed players. WTA chief executiveLarry Scott said the women's tour was "deeply disappointed" by the decision. "Ms. Pe'er has earned the right to play in the tournament and it's regrettable that the UAE is denying her this right", he said. "Ms. Peer and her family are obviously extremely upset and disappointed by the decision of the UAE and its impact on her personally and professionally." Scott said the WTA would "review appropriate future actions with regard to the future of the Dubai tournament".[4] In reaction to the move, theTennis Channel decided not to televise the event,[5][6] andThe Wall Street Journal dropped its sponsorship.[7] In response to the move by the UAE, the Dubai Tennis Championship was fined a record US$300,000. Pe'er was awarded US$44,250, an amount equal to the average prize money she earned per tournament in 2008.[8] A number of highly ranked tennis players, including 2008 winnerAndy Roddick, pulled out of the men's ATP tournament in Dubai in protest.Roger Federer andRafael Nadal also pulled out of the tournament, although they both cited injury as their reason for withdrawal, not the incident involving Pe'er. The WTA Tour Board also demanded that Dubai organizers confirm that qualifying Israeli players will get visas at least eight weeks in advance for the 2010 event.[1][permanent dead link]
Novak Djokovic defeated
David Ferrer 7–5, 6–3
Venus Williams defeated
Virginie Razzano 6–4, 6–2
Rik de Voest /Dmitry Tursunov defeated
Martin Damm /
Robert Lindstedt 4–6, 6–3, [10–5]
Cara Black /Liezel Huber defeatedMaria Kirilenko /
Agnieszka Radwańska 6–3, 6–3
| Athlete | Nationality | Ranking* | Seeding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serena Williams | United States | 1 | 1 |
| Dinara Safina | Russia | 2 | 2 |
| Jelena Janković | Serbia | 3 | 3 |
| Elena Dementieva | Russia | 4 | 4 |
| Vera Zvonareva | Russia | 5 | 5 |
| Venus Williams | United States | 6 | 6 |
| Svetlana Kuznetsova | Russia | 7 | 7 |
| Ana Ivanovic | Serbia | 8 | 8 |
| Agnieszka Radwańska | Poland | 10 | 9 |
| Alizé Cornet | France | 11 | 10 |
| Marion Bartoli | France | 13 | 11 |
| Dominika Cibulková |  Slovakia | 18 | 12 |
| Zheng Jie |  China | 20 | 13 |
| Anabel Medina Garrigues | Spain | 21 | 14 |
| Anna Chakvetadze | Russia | 23 | 15 |
| Kaia Kanepi |  Estonia | 24 | 16 |
The following players receivedwildcards into the main draw:
The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:
Anastasia RodionovaUrszula RadwańskaAnna Lapushchenkova
Julia SchruffElena Vesnina
Viktoriya Kutuzova
Tamira PaszekYan ZiThe following players received the lucky loser spots:
| Athlete | Nationality | Ranking* | Seeding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novak Djokovic | Serbia | 3 | 1 |
| Andy Murray |  Great Britain | 4 | 2 |
| Gilles Simon | France | 8 | 3 |
| David Ferrer | Spain | 14 | 4 |
| Marin Čilić |  Croatia | 19 | 5 |
| Igor Andreev | Russia | 24 | 6 |
| Ivo Karlović | Croatia | 29 | 7 |
| Marat Safin | Russia | 25 | 8 |
The following players receivedwildcards into the main draw:
The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:
The following player received the lucky loser spot:
