DUBAI // Roger Federer hopes to use home advantage this week as he aims to lead UAE Royals to victory in the Dubai leg of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
The three-day UAE leg of the franchise-based competition begins on Monday at Dubai Tennis Stadium, a venue where the Swiss world No 3 has won seven Dubai Duty Free Tennis titles.
Federer played for Indian Aces last year in the first IPTL season, but he switched to the Royals for 2015.
“I really enjoyed myself last year. India was amazing. We had a great time and a wonderful team. The atmosphere was crazy,” said Federer, who led the Aces to the title, speaking in Dubai on Friday. “I didn’t know what to expect. I was pacing around the court a little bit, not sure if I was doing everything correctly according to the new rules. It was a lot of fun and, as I’m based out of Dubai, it’s really near for me to go to.”
Saturday marks the end of the Delhi leg and the action will move to Dubai on Monday, with Federer set to meet Andy Murray of Singapore Slammers on Tuesday.
“I definitely think it’s good for me to play here. It’s been a great hunting ground for me, so I’m very happy to be playing here,” Federer said. “Because I spend quite a bit of time here throughout the year, I’m very pumped playing for the Royals here now on two occasions.
“We have important matches ahead of us because we’re not first right now. We need to catch up and we need to do that quickly. It’s important for the people to know that the IPTL is coming to the UAE and that we have a great time. I think it’s really worth it to come out to the stadium and see it. I think you have to see it for yourself to understand what it’s about and give the IPTL a chance and support it, especially your home team.”
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After the inaugural IPTL season, some players said the action was more competitive than they had anticipated, and Federer says he is taking the tournament seriously.
“Exhibitions have sometime tendencies to be hit-and-giggle,” he said. “You play differently, you try and hit trick shots. Some exhibitions want some fun and others want to see you play. Usually, I feel when I go play exhibitions, they want to see a lighter side of me. But they want to see me play proper tennis, because maybe many people haven’t seen me play. So I was prepared that it was going to be somewhat competitive but, because every game counted, it made it a very serious event but with a fun aspect like the team behind you.”
The IPTL has a special set of rules designed to make the game quicker and more exciting, but Federer does not see any cross-over of its ideas into ATP tour events in the near future.
“I see it as more of a standalone event,” Federer, 34, said. “Obviously it’s very creative. It’s got a lot of new ideas and I like the team aspect. We are pretty lonely on the tour in some sense. I’m not because I have a wonderful team around me and my family, so I’m not alone. But to have guys sitting court side is quite different for us, and I really enjoyed that.”
Federer does not think it is a big issue either if the ATP is not fully supportive of the IPTL.
“It’s OK. Look, we have different bodies in our sport and I’m the No 1 supporter of the ATP. I used to be the president of the council for years,” Federer said. “They’re doing great and they need to focus on what they’re doing. I think they’re cool with it. Maybe in a perfect world they’d like to see the players rest for three months. In my opinion, we see less walkovers, less walkouts. But the important thing is that the players are happy.”
Remaining IPTL schedule
– New Delhi, today
– Dubai (Dec 14-16) It will take place at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. For tickets, visit www.platinumlist.net
– Singapore (Dec 18-20)
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List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
