Dubai tennis officials on why Nadal was such a nice person
Sharad Arora last month celebrated 50 years as a UAE resident where he had a line of duty officer when Nadal took home the Dubai trophy in 2006.
Sharad Arora and Hany El Khafief of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship have officiated and witnessed many prestigious matches in the history of the game played by the greatest players.
But never has a player caught their fancy like Nadal Rafael, who ascended to the pinnacle of world tennis but announced his retirement yesterday at age 35 after becoming 22 time Slam champion.
Rafael Nadal won the Dubai championship at the tender age of 19 after defeating who else but Roger Federer in the finals: the score being 2-6 6-4 6-4.
Arora in his seventy fourth year of age still remembers clearly that Finale of Dubai where there were no winners and the tears of Rafael Nadal after ending Roger Federer’s reign of sixty great matches in a row.
“The enjoyment of doing his matches in the tournament came,” he said.
“However, you stop enjoying or worrying about anything else and only focus on your work, and do your best as the line official making the calls. You are not there to watch tennis, you are there to work.
“It is always best to be at your best because everybody, including many great tennis champions like Nadal know all the rules. But having said that, it was enjoyable because he was such a good person, happy to help, so it made it easier for us.”
Indradeep Arora, last was known as a state-level player in India and completed 50 years on UAE land this August end, then went on to explain why he felt Nadal had some qualities which could be distinguished from certain other athletes.
“I have witnessed numerous good players over the years. You know tennis once had legends like John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase who were also great characters. Officiating in their matches can be tricky, however, since they may pull the trigger on you if they disagree with one of your calls,” he said.
“With players like Nadal, Federer and even Novak, it was never the case. These guys aren’t just wonderful champions, there is something very sweet in their character.”
At the same time, El Khafief, who has officiated tennis matches in Asia and Africa for the longest term, recalls the day Nadal thrashed Federer in the finals that took place in 2006.
“I recall that the whole audience of a stadium in Dubai was shouting for Rafa. It’s a crisis sign for every Spanish fan who carried the poster which read ‘Uno’ (the first). It was a great final, one of the few ATP finals held in Dubai when the first and the second seeded players were in the final again. It was one of the epic matches that the Dubai tennis stadium hosted,” an Egyptian official based in Dubai elaborated on it.
In addition, he is a five-time winner of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, which features the top players in the world.
“He also played in Abu Dhabi for many years. It was never a problem to deal with Rafa,” El Khafief said.
“Everyone was pretty nice to him, and he was nice to everybody. He even had fun with us which was not a first for an athlete. Conversely, he was a different athlete, on the court when it came to running for the balls, he was like a bullfighter.
“It has been unique watching him from the court-side all these years. It has been fun, tennis has lost him and will miss him a lot.”
But he has a date with the top tennis player very soon. “In two days time, I will be going to meet him in Riyadh,” he added. “He is going to play in the 6 Kings Slam (exhibition tournament) over here. So, I am looking forward to seeing him again.”
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