ABU DHABI // Tennis fans in Abu Dhabi were served up an opportunity to meet Scottish player Andy Murray ahead of his opening match today at a tournament in the capital.
About 100 fans queued up for a chance to meet the top British player at Yas Mall yesterday and to have autographs signed.
Murray said that he arrived in Dubai on Saturday after celebrating Christmas at home, for which he said he received “a box of shorts” as a gift. His first match in Abu Dhabi is against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.
“It’s always fun to come here,” he said. “It’s a good way to start the year.”
Three fans received Yas Mall vouchers and tickets to the final day of the tournament, organisers said.
Glennys Sanders, 70, from Lincolnshire in the UK, waited in the queue while wearing a shirt that read “I love Andy Murray”, with a heart on it. She said she had been following her favourite player and compatriot since he had first taken to the professional tennis circuit as a teenager.
“I have followed him since he was 15,” said Ms Sanders, who was in Abu Dhabi visiting her son, his wife and two of her five grandchildren. She had tickets to attend this weekend’s Mubadala World Tennis Championship.
She said she felt that because he was so young at that time and travelling abroad for matches in places where he did not know the language, he needed support from fans.
“I like tennis and have followed it since I was a child, so when Andy came on, it was the first British person in many years,” she said.
She manages to watch his matches on television despite time differences, said Ms Sanders, who is founder of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome Support Group, a British charity set up to aid those who suffer from the disorder of the nervous system.
Being able to see Murray in person was marvellous, she said. “It’s awesome.”
Ibrahim Al Mazrouei, 20, heard about the Murray event through Twitter and said that he was excited to see the Scot, who he had been following for five years.
“I actually went last year to the championship,” said Mr Al Mazrouei, who is an energy engineering student at Pennsylvania State University in the US.
While he has never played tennis, he said he plans on taking a course in the summer.
Mr Al Mazrouei, who is from Abu Dhabi, said he was thrilled to see the UAE becoming a more high-profile destination for athletes such as Murray after years of being able to watch only televised matches.
He went to the Dubai Football Challenge on Tuesday, where a sell-out crowd saw AC Milan beat Real Madrid 4-2 in the friendly match.
“I love it,” he said. “After always seeing it on TV and wishing it was happening here, it’s great. It’s amazing.”
The Mubadala World Tennis Championship begins today with the final being played on Saturday.
As well as Murray and today’s opponent Lopez, the player line-up consists of Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Almagro, Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka.
lcarroll@thenational.ae
