If you want to watch the world’s best players on the men’s and women’s Tours over a period of 14 days, then head to the iconic Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex to realize your dream
This February, the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex (KTSC) will have a different feel to it when the world’s best players descend on Doha. For the first time since the inaugural Qatar Open held in 1993, the iconic KTSC will be a beehive of activity for two successive weeks when the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the Qatar Total Open will be jammed together over 14 days of non-stop tennis. The Qatar Total Open will be held from Feb 13 to 19 whereas the Qatar ExxonMobil Open will be staged from Feb 20 to 25.
It will be 14 days of non-stop excitement for the tennis fans in the country and the region, not to mention the ticket holders flying from around the world. For almost two decades, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open launched the new tennis season at the start of January every year but because of the COVID-19 pandemic around the globe, the dates had to be changed in the 2021 season and last year. With the sport world in general and tennis family in particular returning back to its original dates for 2023, Doha has agreed to stage the two events back-to-back after the induction of new tournaments prior to the Australian Open last month.
I want to thank Tournament Director Saad Al Mohannadi, the WTA and all those who make this tournament possible. It’s been great. I love it here. I’m always going to remember the memories of this week.
Iga Natalia Świątek, Polish tennis player
With two weeks of non-stop tennis buzz at KTSC, fans in Qatar have developed an envious affinity with the ATP Tour events (since 1993) and the WTA Tour tournaments (since 2001). From the time Boris Becker beat Goran Ivanisevic in the final of the inaugural Qatar Open in 1993, tennis popularity in Qatar has only seen an upward graph in fan following. Grand Slam stars like Stefan Edberg, Petr Korda, Jim Courier, Marcelo Rios, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have won the Qatar ExxonMobil Open titles on more than one occasion. Edberg, Federer, Murray and Djokovic, in fact, have won titles in Doha twice each.
Eight years after staging the first ATP Tour event in Doha, the Qatari capital became the first destination to welcome the WTA Tour family for the first Qatar Total Open. Starting from Martina Hingis winning the title in 2001 until last year when Polish giant Iga Swiatek emerged as the champion in Doha, the Qatar Total Open has been a major hit with the fans for the last 22 years years. The WTA Tour event came to Doha for the first time in February 2001 at the KTSC. The tournament was welcomed by a lot of enthusiasm and cheer from the local fans eager to witness the top women’s players in action in Qatar. In the first Qatar Open in 2001, players like Hingis, Mary Pierce of France, Sandrine Testud of France, Barbara Schett of Austria, Iva Majoli of Croatia, Rita Grande of Italy and Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand arrived in Doha. Hingis beat Testud to win the tournament and bag the prize money of US $ 27,000. A year later, multi-Grand Slam winner Monica Seles of the US beat Tanasugarn to win the tournament. Seles came back to defend her title in 2003 while Russia’s Myskina beat Elena Likhovtseva to clinch the title in 2004.
The following year, it was Myskina again as the Russian beat compatriot Svetalana Kuznetsova in the final. In February 2005, tennis diva Maria Sharapova of Russia walked away with the top prize of US $ 94,000. Sharapova emerged winner again in 2008 while Russia’s Nadia Petrova bagged the trophy in 2006. Justine Henin (2007), Vera Zvonareva (2011), Victoria Azarenka (2012 and 2013), Simona Halep (2014), Lucie Safarova (2015), Carla Suárez Navarro (2016), Karolína Plíšková (2017), Petra Kvitová (2018 and 2021), Elise Mertens (2019), Aryna Sabalenka (2020), and Swiątek have also picked up the winner’s trophy in Qatar. Myskina, Sharapova, Azarenka and Kvitova are the players to have won two trophies each in Qatar.
Swiatek, who beat Kontaveit in last year’s final, said after lifting the Falcon Trophy: “I’m pretty happy that I was composed and I stayed in the same shape I was for the whole tournament, because playing finals is a different feeling. It’s always a little bit more stressful. I knew that Anett is going to play well, because she’s shown consistency throughout the whole six months, I would say. I needed to put pressure on her, and I’m pretty happy that I did that well today. It’s so nice to have these kinds of matches where you don’t actually have problems with keeping the pace and with staying aggressive, because right now I’m a more aggressive player, and I really love it, because it’s giving me a lot of confidence on and off the court. It’s just making sometimes life on court easier.”
Swiatek added: “I want to thank Tournament Director Saad Al Mohannadi, the WTA and all those who make this tournament possible. It’s been great. I love it here. This is my second time. I’m always going to remember the memories of this week. The support that I got here was amazing and even though I’ve been on tour for like three years now, it’s still surprising to me how many Polish people came here,” she said with a smile.”I want to thank my team. I know how much work they’ve put into getting me in shape and how much they sacrifice sometimes. I really appreciate that. Without them, I wouldn’t be in that place,” the Doha winner said.
Bautista Agut, who beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-4 in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final to win his first ATP Tour title since 2019, was pleased with his performance in Doha. He said: “I am very happy. It has been a while since I lifted a trophy. I have been working very hard to reach another final and to get the chance to win another title. It was a big dream for me to win a title and I have now won twice in Doha. It is very special for me and I am very happy. It was a really tough final. This year we played without wind, which was much better for me. It was not easy to recover after a really tough battle yesterday, but I think I did a good job today. It is my 10th ATP Tour title and I am very happy.”
The Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex
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 expanded and refurbished in 2008 to seat the current capacity of 7,000 spectators.
The year 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 the Food Court. The Public Village, VIP Village, and the Kids Zone have been spruced up and the venue has been transformed into an interactive, entertaining home for tennis fans.
Currently, the venue has one Centre Court, four show courts and 20 outside courts. This makes the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex the ideal setting for one of the greatest sporting events on the women’s and men’s Tours. Tickets are available in shopping malls across the country in addition to the ticket kiosks located at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. You can also get your tickets online through www.qatartennis.or
