An empty house does not diminish the play at the IPTL show

To paraphrase Jim Morrison in Wayne’s World 2, if you invite them, they will come. Only in regards to the International Premier Tennis League, the organisers of the inaugural Dubai leg appeared to have invited the high-profile acts but forgot to invite fans to come and watch them perform.

It was always going to be a challenge to attract capacity crowds to a new tournament with a new format at a relatively new venue 30 kilometres deep into the desert – even with the men’s world No 1 in attendance. Yet the challenge becomes near-impossible when the event is under-promoted. The appearance of Novak Djokovic is only a crowd-puller if the potential crowd to be pulled knows he is here.

Here is an example: I have two tennis-mad cousins in Dubai, one of whom can tell you anything and everything about almost any player ranked inside the top 50 on the ATP Tour; the other has a collection of tennis trophies that would make even a proud mother blush. However, despite being driven past the Hamdan Sports Complex every day on the way to and from school, they had no idea the IPTL was even here. And they are not anomalies. Over the past three days, the number of people who have said they were unaware the event was taking place is remarkable. Some of these people work in sports media. Organisers said they sold around 6,000 tickets for each night, yet the 8,000-seat arena never reached even 50 per cent capacity.

More concerning is that on Thursday, the official online retailer said tickets were sold out, meaning those who wanted to attend were told it was no longer possible to gain access. Considering previous legs in the Philippines, Singapore and India were all well-received and well-attended, the empty seats in Dubai were disappointing.

It is a shame. Dubai has repeatedly shown an appetite for tennis and those who made the trip to the city’s outskirts will undoubtedly have enjoyed their evening. The Hamdan Sports Complex is as great a venue for racquet sports as it is for swimming and the IPTL is a neat mixture of tennis and entertainment, mixing music and choreographed dancers with smiling athletes and, at times, high-intensity sport.

The action may essentially be exhibition tennis, but the players appeared to take it semi-seriously. While there were no tears shed when Djokovic lost to Tomas Berdych, Goran Ivanisevic was irrefutably angry when he was beaten by Mark Philippoussis, smashing the ball at his opponent in frustration.

The most-enjoyable aspect of the IPTL was observing camaraderie between teammates. Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki are two of the most personable players in the game, so they were always going to prove popular in this fun format. When they appeared for a joint press conference, they performed a five-minute comedy act. Unfortunately – much like the stands – there were only a few reporters to witness it.

“A full-house,” Djokovic joked dryly as he surveyed the empty room. “I’d like to thank you all for coming out.”

gmeenaghan@thenational.ae

RESULTS

1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner: Dirilis Ertugrul, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer)
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: Kidd Malibu, Sandro Paiva, Musabah Al Muhairi
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
Winner: Raakezz, Tadhg O’Shea, Nicholas Bachalard
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
Winner: Au Couer, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
Winner: Rayig, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
Winner: King’s Shadow, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

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COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Kumulus Water

Started: 2021

Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid

Based: Tunisia

Sector: Water technology

Number of staff: 22

Investment raised: $4 million

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

COMPANY%20PROFILE

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On Women's Day

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action

Shelina Janmohamed: Why shouldn't a spouse be compensated fairly for housework?

Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality

Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'

Sole survivors

Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.

Packages which the US Secret Service said contained possible explosive devices were sent to:

Former first lady Hillary Clinton
Former US president Barack Obama
Philanthropist and businessman George Soros
Former CIA director John Brennan at CNN's New York bureau
Former Attorney General Eric Holder (delivered to former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz)
California Congresswoman Maxine Waters (two devices)