DOHA, December 11, 2016
Held consistently since 1993, the 2017 Qatar Exxon Mobil Open, celebrates 25 years of top class tennis tournament, one that has become a pacesetter on the ATP World Tour’s 250 series and the highest prize-money event of the Tour.
The 2017 tournament will be held from January 2 to 7.
Since its inception, the season-opening event which won the award as the best 250 ATP Tour tournament of 2015, has continued to attract some of the best players who descend on the city of Doha at the beginning of every year to display fantastic skills and athleticism on the courts of the ultra-modern Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.
Just like in the previous years, the courts are ready to be set ablaze by the skills of some of the top players in the world of men’s tennis at this year’s event with the world number one Andy Murray leading the pack of the gladiators.
Boris Becker won in 1993 (photo: QTF)
The maiden event featured German superstar Boris Becker who won against the backdrop of a semi-final victory over Sweden’s Stefan Edberg before thumping Croatia’s Goran Ivanisevic in the final, 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5 to lift the maiden golden falcon trophy.
This time around, another clash between Murray and the defending champion and world number two Novak Djokovic of Serbia is a very tempting and likely prospect and one tennis fans cannot afford to miss.
Other superstars grazing the Doha skyline are Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2012 champion and Tomas Berdych among others.
In all, there are 25 direct and three wild card entries for the tournament in addition to four qualifiers in the singles event while the doubles will have.16-teams participating – a tradition that dates back to the very first event.
Tareq Zainal, Secretary General Assistant at QTF and the event’s General Coordinator said: “It is a great privilege to welcome our fans once again to Doha in the 25th anniversary of the world-class event, Qatar ExxonMobil Open is a symbol of the strategic and enduring partnership between the Energy Company ExxonMobil and QTF aimed at taking the sport to higher heights and bringing the community of Qatar the finest tennis and entertainment.”
“As we are about to experience another exciting week of top-level tennis, I would like to appreciate everyone, especially the committees that have worked assiduously to ensure a successful event yet again,” he added.
Tournament Director Karim Alami said: “We are happy to welcome the world once again to Doha. Qatar is the hub of global sport and we are passionate about tennis. I’ve no doubt that the 2017 Qatar Exxon Mobil Open will surpass the previous editions in all ramifications.
“Without any doubt, our tournament has grown over the years to become one of the most keenly contested tennis event in the region and on the ATP Tour and through this event we could move tennis forward in our region and also helped in developing the game with increasing interests”
The venue was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, the Father Emir, in 1992. The stadium had an initial capacity of 4,500 seats but it was later enlarged in 2008 to seat the current capacity of 7,000 spectators.
2008 also saw additional renovations to the set-up of the venue with the addition of new stands, VIP boxes, Lower, Middle and Upper sections and the VIP Village, Public Village and Food Court.
Currently, the venue has one Centre Court, four show courts, and 20 outside courts. This makes the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex the ideal setting for one of the greatest sporting events on the world stage. Set up of the Public Village, VIP Village, and Kids Zone are now underway and the venue is being transformed into an interactive, entertaining home for tennis and so much more.
Tickets are now available in malls including Land Mark, City Center and Villaggio in addition to the tickets kiosk located at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Also you can get you ticket online through www.qatartennis.org.
