Perhaps the capacity crowd that filled the Aviation Club last night for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships were not fans of Irish pop bands.
Roger Federer had revealed on Wednesday night that, as he sat refuelling between games, he was aware enough to hear U2 playing on the nearby Irish Village's sound system.
During his semi-final yesterday evening with Novak Djokovic, the only thing that could be heard between points was insistent, impassioned cheering.
Such was the show of support for the Swiss maestro that this crowd could have rivalled those that have turned out in Basel or Geneva. Federer, who owns an apartment in Dubai Marina and has won here five times, called the atmosphere “a dream”.
Even Djokovic acknowledged the support his rival gets here appears to be growing even as the 32 year old’s star is – prematurely – said to be dimming.
Djokovic is one of the most popular players on the ATP Tour, yet on Wednesday night he found himself playing to an emptying arena.
Federer had just finished dispatching Radek Stepanek in front of a capacity crowd when Djokovic entered the court moments later to meet Roberto Bautista-Agut and found empty seats aplenty as the 17-time grand slam tournament winner’s faithful departed.
Last night, it seemed that as that same support grew in vocal strength, Federer grew in mental strength. “That’s what I’ve got back right now,” he said. “ That’s why I think I have been playing consistently well for some months again.”
With the majority of the 5,000 spectators urging him on, Federer found his rhythm and produced a comeback performance of such quality that it repeatedly brought the crowd to its feet.
“Honestly, I don’t know what they were chanting, if it was ‘Nole, Nole’, or ‘Roger, Roger’. It was like a blur,” Federer said.
It was, for the most part, “Roger, Roger”.
If, as Djokovic suggested, Federer’s support is continuing to swell, perhaps the reason could be aligned to the fact the seven-time Wimbledon champion’s elite career is approaching its end.
When he told fans on Thursday that he would be playing tennis for the next 10 years, he had his tongue firmly in his cheek: Playing and playing on Tour are two different things entirely, he had clarified, flashing that famously suave smile.
Like the Rolling Stones last Friday, Federer’s performance in the UAE seven days later was vintage. He knows and we know that his age is creeping up on him, but so long as he continues to compete with such verve, his support will only continue to grow. Who does not want to see a great at the top of his game when they still can?
“It was a very enthusiastic crowd, polite crowd, and it is like a dream playing in atmospheres like this,” Federer said. “I mean, they were already trying to create a Mexican wave five games in. I don’t know if that was because Novak was leading or it was to try to pump me up, but either way, it was great.”
The five-time Dubai champion plays Tomas Berdych in tonight's final. Tickets, unsurprisingly, are sold out.
Unlike U2, Federer’s fans have found what they are looking for.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at SprtNationalUAE
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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
The%20specs%3A%20Taycan%20Turbo%20GT
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RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m
Winner: Arjan, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Jap Nazaa, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi.
6pm: Al Ruwais Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 1,200m
Winner: RB Lam Tara, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinal.
6.30pm: Shadwell Gold Cup Prestige Dh125,000 1,600m
Winner: AF Sanad, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
7pm: Shadwell Farm Stallions Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Patrick Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
7.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Dubai Canal, Harry Bentley, Satish Seemar.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson
Four stars
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
PETER%20PAN%20%26%20WENDY
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
SUZUME
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1971: The Year The Music Changed Everything
Director: Asif Kapadia
4/5
