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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN

February 22, 2011

Omar Awadhy

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

S. STAKHOVSKY/O. Awadhy
6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What you can say about the match of yesterday and today?
OMAR AWADHY: I think both matches were better than the previous years. The doubles, yesterday I think we did really well in the second set. Today it was -- the first set, again, I had a slow start. I was down 4-1 until I get used to his pace, of course.
Then I felt like I played my best tennis towards the end of the first set, but it was a bit maybe too late. He won the set 6-4.
After that physically I came down a bit. I'm not used to playing at this level at all. I think at 6-4, 3-2 I got a bit tired, and he won 6-2, so...

Q. You were aware yesterday as you told us there is too much big huge difference in the level. Were you worried at the start of the match because of the huge difference between you and him?
OMAR AWADHY: Yeah, I mean, I know that. So, I mean, I tried to do the same as in the doubles yesterday, you know, focus from the beginning of the match, just try to relax, play my game a bit.
I felt like I did okay, you know. I think I can play better, obviously. But considering the circumstances - you know, that I was out for two years and I've recently been back playing tennis again - I think I did better than the previous years.

Q. How much this match will support you in the future?
OMAR AWADHY: Yeah, I mean, it's always nice to play in this tournament, you know, regardless of the result. It's my country, and I'm always thankful that I've been getting wild card. You know, the Duty Free have always been good to me.
I'll just try to do my best, and then, you know, next year, let's see what's going to happen. We'll see.

Q. What about the future of the game itself, the tennis game? Do you think that UAE have talented players that can give to this tournament or to the world in the future?
OMAR AWADHY: I think that if -- with the situation right now, you know, I don't see that happening any time soon. It's not a secret. Everyone here in Dubai knows that we don't have a lot players. We don't have kids coming up. So to expect a player from UAE within the next I'd say 15, 20 years, forget about it.
After that, who knows. Maybe something is going to happen, something good. But in the next few years, there's just the players that we have really. That's like five or six decent players, you know, good for the region.

Q. For the world?
OMAR AWADHY: No, no. No chance.

Q. You are pessimist.
OMAR AWADHY: No, I'm realistic. I'm not pessimistic. I've been playing this sport since I was six, you know, so I've been in this country. I play for my country every year, you know.
But I think Alaric can help me out here. He knows that there aren't players in UAE. There aren't a lot of good coaches. There aren't - how did you say - good youth coming through.

Q. What it's missing?
OMAR AWADHY: Everything, basically. You know, we need better facilities. Not facilities. Okay, Aviation Club is great, but we need more facilities to bring kids up. We need this country to be more - how do you say...

Q. What facilities you mean?
OMAR AWADHY: Facilities as in clubs, as in coaches, as in people who actually really care about doing something. Because now, at the moment, it's all business here in Dubai. I mean, everything here is related to business. You know, foreign coaches come to Dubai to make money. And fair enough.
But at the same time, they're not giving anything in return.

Q. Is it expensive for you to play tennis?
OMAR AWADHY: I mean, for me personally, I mean, I know the situation of a lot of players in Europe, so I can't complain about that. I mean, the support that the top players here get, it's not bad, you know. But there aren't any good...

Q. Not enough?
OMAR AWADHY: Not close to being enough. Qatar for example. They have the Qatar Open. Qatar are trying. They have a big budget, but for some reason it's not happening over there. There aren't players either, bur at least they have a budget. They're focusing on two or three youth players and trying to do something.
It's not happening. So imagine here. We don't he have even have the budge. How can you expect...

Q. (Question regarding Qatar versus Dubai tennis.)
OMAR AWADHY: Yeah, but in sports they have more money than us. I'm not sure why. I'm not sure why the budget is very...

Q. For Qatarian players?
OMAR AWADHY: Yeah, for Qatarian players. Yeah.

Q. Is part of the problem as well that quite a lot of tennis courts have been taken up by hotels in Dubai?
OMAR AWADHY: Yeah, hotels and even a lot of academies now going on, you know, and a lot of advertisement and a lot money coming in.
But I think the problem is that the education for sports in UAE, you cannot compare it to countries in Europe, for example, where the kids and parents can know after a few months that this is a joke. We're paying money, but we're not getting anything out of it.
So I hope here that players, young kids, they can realize that a lot of coaches here are just for business. That's the fact. That's why -- I'm not only talking about local players, but there aren't any good foreign players in UAE either. Why is that?
People can say it from UAE players, but we have a lot foreigners here that play tennis from different nationalities, and none of them are really good. So it must be a problem within this country.

Q. As Emirate, did you get support from different government or companies?
OMAR AWADHY: I get -- I mean, I get -- I'm always thankful for everything that's happened in my career. You know, I don't want to regret anything. I just want to look out for the youth coming up now. I've done enough in my career to avoid the problems as much as possible.
But to have a UAE player competing at this level right now, it's impossible. It's not even a question, you know. So I hope that when I retire I can have the chance to try to change that, you know, and try to help having a player like that.

Q. The next six months for you, Omar, I know the Davis Cup, but what's going to be your plan for yourself? Have you planned something on the ITF? Are you going to any tournaments?
OMAR AWADHY: No, not yet, because I'm waiting for will Davis Cup announcement. It was supposed to be in June in Lebanon on clay. They changed that now. It's not in Lebanon anymore because of the problems. So I am just waiting for the -- to finalize the surface and the timing so I can try to make a schedule around this.
I picked up a few points in Kuwait recently. I'm going to try to play let's say tournaments more close to my level than the Dubai Open, future tournaments and a few tournaments for my country. We'll see after that.

Q. And how would it go with the other members of the national team? Now that Faisal Bastaki is gone, you have Hamad and Mahmoud.
OMAR AWADHY: Yeah, we don't really have. I mean, it's me and Mahmoud who have been on the team since 1996. We expected at this stage of our careers to be out of the team.
But the fact that it's still me and Mahmoud. We always do our best for our country. Hamad I think is good talent we have. He's 20 years old. And that's it basically. No one else at the moment who I can mention.

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