Tommy Robredo Returns to Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships
- Dark horse of the draw hoping to make a big impact at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships -
Dubai, UAE, February 14th, 2008: Spanish pin-up Tommy Robredo is set to make a winning return to Dubai after finishing in the top 10 for the second straight year.
The 25-year old has a patchy record at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, reaching the semi-finals in 2003 and 2005, but falling to the man they call The Magician, 2002 Dubai champion Fabrice Santoro in the first round last year. Now he’s ready to launch another bid for the title, confident after a successful 2007 season.
His early defeat in Dubai was a rare setback for the Spaniard, who not only won two ATP Tour titles during 2007 but enjoyed his best Grand Slam performances by twice advancing to the quarter-finals. He began the year by reaching the final in Auckland, and then reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open before losing to Roger Federer. Another Grand Slam quarter-final followed at Roland Garros, with another defeat by Federer. August saw him win his fifth career title in the Polish city of Sopot, the site of his first tournament triumph in 2001, and he went on to reach the final in Beijing before taking the title in Metz with victory in the final over Andy Murray.
Tommy is an unusual name for a Spaniard, but his father, Angel, was a huge fan of The Who and named his son after the band’s rock opera. Robredo bought the movie to learn more about it, and in June last year he and his father met the band when they performed at Wembley Arena.
As well as being one of the top tennis players from Spain, Robredo is often in demand as a model. In October he received Men’s Health magazine ‘Most Stylish Man’ award, and that followed his September appearance in People en Español. But it was his June appearance in the UK Cosmopolitan magazine that caused a sensation after he posed nude. But it was for a good cause, aiding the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign, which raises awareness of, and funds research into, testicular and prostate cancer.
"When Cosmo first asked me to get naked, I thought 'No Way!' But when I heard it was for charity I was like 'Okay, it's for a good reason’," Robredo explained.
“Tommy Robredo is making his sixth appearance at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, and we are delighted to welcome him back”, said Colm McLoughlin, managing director of tournament owners and organisers Dubai Duty Free. “His success here, which includes a win over the former world number one Marat Safin, suggests that he is capable of defeating anyone and we will watch his matches with great interest.”
Robredo will face a tough challenge from a star-studded field that includes Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Murray.
Play at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, which is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, begins on February 25th 2008 with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournament, and is followed by the ATP event from March 3rd to 8th.
