Tuesday cover: Roger Federer not interested in ‘careful’ tennis in Dubai


Chitrabhanu Kadalayil
  • English
  • Arabic

The National's Sport cover for the Tuesday, February 24 issue, featuring Roger Federer winning his opening match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships men's tournament.

An aggressive Federer dispatched Mikhail Youzhny in his opening match 6-3, 6-1 and tells Ahmed Rizvi “the last thing I want to do is lose back-to-back matches playing careful”.

Adds Federer:

“I know I can play careful tennis, but then you cannot leave it up to the other guys sometimes if you are going to win or lose.

“It’s difficult to come out and dominate every match, every point, and it’s also hard work playing aggressive ... but I still do believe here in Dubai, if you want to do well, you have to play on top of the baseline, accept that you’re going to play a lot of half volleys, and, if possible for me, I think I’m going to try to come to the net a bit.”

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Timeline

1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line

1962
250 GTO is unveiled

1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company

1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens

1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made

1987
F40 launched

1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent

2002
The Enzo model is announced

2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi

2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled

2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives

2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company

2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street

2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary

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Don’ts 

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  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying

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Semi-finals

Saturday, July 29

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  • Lions v Hurricanes, 4.30pm
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Analysis

Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.

The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement. 

We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment. 

 

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Group A
UAE, Italy, Japan, Spain

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