It’s time to relive the Federer experience in Dubai

Over the past week, I had been itching to write about Roger Federer. What kept holding me back, for a change, was the dilemma on what to write after the avalanche of emotions swept legion of his fans off their feet at his anticipated retirement after this Laver Cup.

While I have been exactly no stranger to some of the greatest sportspersons walking into the golden sunset during my career – being often being thrust with the responsibility of doing justice to the coverage – it’s very rarely that I have seen something of this magnitude. The deluge of love, respect and awe around the globe that the Swiss master evoked as his legend grew was evident in every spoken word from the heart – and I felt it would be redundant to try and add some value to it.

May be, there are the Dubai memories to talk about and cherish. The eight titles that he won on that centre court at the Dubai Duty Free Championship may not get talked about in tennis folklore as much as the same number of triumphs at his home tournament in Basel, leave alone his reign at the Wimbledon. However, I have been extremely lucky to see the kind of brand ambassador’s role Federer played for the tournament over the years.

‘’We have been fortunate enough to be a part of Roger’s journey,’’ remarked Colm McLoughlin, the Executive Vice Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, owners of the tournament, during an interview with me in 2019. Incidentally, that was the year he last won there in what was a landmark 100^th ATP title for him.

How do I really describe the Federer effect, which used to take hold of Dubai during the ATP week in February every year – time and again ? A lot of the aura could have originated from the fact that he chose to make Dubai his winter home. Every year, he would slip in quietly with his family and entourage into the emirate in January to tune up for the Australian Open before coming back later to bring alive the cozy Dubai International Stadium.

The ATP 500 hardcourt tournament, mind you, has seen some of the finest exponents of the game – with someone like Novak Djokovic winning it five times – but the importance of being Roger Federer in Dubai seemed to be on a different plane.

At the customary Players’ Party, Federer would be the cynosure of all eyes as the Who’s Who of Dubai hi-life would jostle for his attention and the selfies. The Dubai venue being a small one, the Swiss master’s game would always be the marquee one at 7 pm in the evening – where he would simply have the audience eating out of his hands every time he stepped on to the court.

 As a journalist, I cherish the memories of many a media round table session with him – be it at the beachfront next to the iconic Burj Al Arab Hotel to the rooftop at the Jumeriah Creekside Hotel in the later years. The ‘Burj,’ incidentally is the hotel Dubai never fails to showcase – and visuals of him playing tennis with Andre Agassi on their rooftop helipad in 2005 as a build-up to that year’s tournament – was possibly seen by ‘half the globe,’ to quote McLoughlin.

 The opportunity of an exclusive interview with him came much later in 2019. Then 38, the hushed talk was already on about when would he finally take the call on his career. Replying to a question of mine that many tennis fans I knew felt that they would give up watching the sport after his exit, Federer laughed it off.

 ‘’The fans who are saying that (stopping to watch tennis) will need some adjusting to do. If you are a tennis lover, you will always have the next superstar like me – or may be not like me,’’ he said. ‘’However, there will always be new names, new tournaments, so I am not really worried about the future of tennis,’’ RF added.

  We will live in hope…