Murray laps up seven heaven as Venus rises

Withdrawals let world No 4 sample luxury living in UAE where Williams lifts women’s title in event dogged by controversy

(Getty Images)

What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, when Andy Murray came here as the world No 12, the Barclays Dubai Championships featured the top seven men in the rankings and the strength of the field was such that he had to play Roger Federer in the first round.

Yesterday the 21-year-old Scot, now the world No 4, surveyed a 32-strong line-up depleted of most of its big names after the withdrawal of five top-10 players: Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco. Indeed with just two days to go before the start of the men’s competition, Murray was the only top-10 entrant actually in the United Arab Emirates. Novak Djokovic, the No 3, and Gilles Simon, the No 8, both lost their semi-finals in Marseilles yesterday.

Murray said the withdrawals were a disappointment for the tournament, but admitted there were compensations. As one of the two biggest names left he and his team have been given a suite of rooms at the seven-star Burj Al Arab, the iconic Dubai hotel built in the shape of a sail. “It’s pretty special,” Murray smiled. “I think I wasn’t meant to be staying there but because Roger and Rafa pulled out they had a free room. It’s bigger than my apartment in London.” Colm McLoughlin, the managing director of Dubai Duty Free, the owners of the tournament, said he was satisfied that the withdrawals were all down to legitimate injuries. However Roddick, who won the title last year, said that he had not been happy with the political controversies that dominated the women’s tournament, which ended here last night with Venus Williams beating Virginie Razzano 6-4 6-2 in the final.

Shahar Peer was denied the visa she needed to play here – organisers said it was for security reasons because they feared protests following Israel’s military offensive in Gaza – and it was only on Thursday that another Israeli, Andy Ram, learned that he had been given permission to enter the country for the men’s event. “I really didn’t agree with what went on over there,” Roddick said in Memphis, where he is playing this weekend. “I just don’t feel like there’s a need for that in a sporting event. I don’t think you make political statements through sports.”

The Women’s Tennis Association has fined the tournament $300,000 (£210,000), more than double its previous record sanction. Dubai has also been told that it must confirm in future that qualifying Israeli players will be given visas at least eight weeks in advance. Peer will receive $44,250 (£30,975) and 130 ranking points in compensation and the WTA says she must be guaranteed a wild-card if she fails to qualify next year. The tournament will also have to post a $2m (£1.4m) financial performance guarantee by July to guarantee its inclusion in the 2010 calendar.

Larry Scott, the head of the WTA, said Peer had been “victimised by an unjust policy of discrimination by the UAE”. He added: “These actions are also intended to send a clear message that our Tour will not tolerate discrimination of any kind.” Dubai has yet to decide whether it will appeal against the penalties. McLoughlin described the fine as “a bit severe”, while Salah Tahlak, the tournament director, said: “I would not say we are sorry. We have done a lot as far as the tournament goes. It is not our responsibility to issue a visa.”

He added: “We have never had any security problems in 17 years. Whatever we need to do for him [Andy Ram], we will do it. Whatever reason was given last week, we had our reasons. Maybe then it was still fresh what happened in Gaza.”

As for Murray, the Scot will be making his third appearance this year in the Gulf, which has proved a highly lucrative hunting ground. He has already earned $433,000 (£303,100) in prize money by winning an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi and the Qatar Open in Doha and probably as much again in appearance money. The winner here receives $383,000 (£268,100) in prize money.

Murray, who is recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of Marseilles, faces a familiar foe in the first round. The Scot beat the Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the final of the US Open juniors in 2004, in the Davis Cup in Odessa three years ago and in Doha last month. They will also meet in a fortnight’s time in the Davis Cup in Glasgow. In further rounds here Murray is seeded to meet Rainer Schüttler, Marat Safin, David Ferrer in the semi-finals and Djokovic in the final.

In last night’s women’s final Razzano, the world No 58, was unable to build on a remarkable run which had featured wins over Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva, Nos 2 and 5 in the world respectively. The 25-year-old Frenchwoman had to take a medical time-out for treatment on her back in the middle of the first set and rarely looked capable of preventing Williams winning the 40th singles title of her career. The Wimbledon champion will move into the world’s top five next week for the first time since 2003.