The UAE Tennis Association launched its new development strategy in October 2009 with the aim to gather the tennis community under one common administration: Tennis Emirates (TE)

In partnership with MEDIAPRO Middle East, TE launched several communication platforms: official website, player membership program, institution affiliation program, coaches and officials registration program, annual competition schedule and a national tennis ranking.

Since its launch, the TE website now has almost 10,000 unique users per month and the player membership program has just surpassed the short term goal of 1000 registered memberships for the first season. 

“All major institutions have already submitted their applications for the affiliation program and we are positive that by the end of the second season all coaches, clubs, hotel, academies, coaches and officials have joined our efforts to unite the tennis community under the TE umbrella”, says Dr. Abdullah Al Nuaimi, General Secretary of Tennis Emirates.

“We are very happy with the recent developments and how the participants have supported the new direction of the Association. We are not policing the application of the rules yet but everyone needs to understand that it is by Law that all institutions have to be registered members with TE and sooner than later we will have to remind some of the institutions about their responsibilities to join. TE is the only governing body of tennis in the UAE and we are responsible for the game in our country and responsible towards the ITF to uphold the requirements as a national association. Therefore we need to establish statistics and data to be able to understand the current state of tennis and to implement new ideas to develop the game.” 

Other developments introduced during the current tennis season included the launch of an annual competition calendar for all age groups. “We have launched a school circuit for boys and girls under 8,9 & 10, a development circuit for boys and girls under 12 & 14, the junior circuit for age groups 16 & 18, the open men’s and women’s circuit and the veteran circuit for adults over 30”, explains Slah Bramly, Technical Director of TE.

“More than 2,000 players will participate in TE sanctioned or organized tournaments this season and over 350 players will be ranked on the national tennis rankings, with many UAE players in the top of their age groups like Omar Behrouzian, Rashed Bushagr, Fatma Janahi, Aboud Al Aali, etc.” Bramly further explains that “we still need to improve the competition schedule next season and spread out the events throughout the year. This year we had our first national tournament in December and the majority of the competitions are happening from January onwards. Our aim is to have between 12-15 events in each age category which is 1-2 tournaments each months as this would allow the top players to play the average number of matches as per the international development standards for developing high performance players.”

One area to tackle is still the access to courts for national teams. “TE is the only tennis association in the region which does not have its own national training center and we are working hard to gain access to a facility which is suitable for high performance training of our national teams” states Al Nuaimi. “But I am sure that since the recent promotion of our Davis Cup team to Group III we will have people now listening to what our requirements are.”

Following a strategic partnership with the Madrid Tennis Federation (TE has also strategic partnerships with Swiss Tennis, German Tennis Federation, French Tennis Federation, Tunesian Tennis Federation, etc.), TE was able to recruit a National Team coach from Spain which immediately impacted the preparations of the Nation team prior to this years competition.

Jorge Martin Munoz was able to form a competitive team with Omar Behrouzian, Mahmoud Nader, Hamad Abbas and Rashid Bushagr to win the Davis Cup Group IV hosted in Jordan in April to gain direct promotion into Group III. “Our aim is to be even better prepared next year and to try to reach promotion into Group II for 2012” says Omar Behrouzian. The UAE’s top player and former Dubai Open participant was sidelined with a knee injury for almost two years and was only recently able to train full time again. Behrouzian credited Munoz for the UAE team achievements: “You always gain experience from having a good coach who has experience and has worked in many countries before. That was obviously one of the reasons why all four of us were able to improve and were totally ready for the tournament.”

“Our long term aim is to have a UAE player reach the top 100 on the ATP or WTA tour and for this we need to have a competitive national team. In order for us to at least maintain the current level or to have a chance to reach promotion again, we are seriously considering to host the Group III Davis Cup competition in 2011 in the UAE. It is always easier to be successful on home soil so may be hosting the competition in the UAE will allow us win promotion to Group II already next season, states Al Nuaimi the plans for the National team.”

“The Davis Cup success this year was very important for TE but we have to look into the future and implement a strategy to detect new players which at some point will be able to replace Omar and Mahmoud in Davis Cup”, explains Al Nuaimi. “The detection program will require a lot of funds and our strategic partner, Mediapro is working hard to manage our Rights and to secure long term commercial partnerships for the association.”

“We have some early successes in this regards and we are happy to have ASTECO Property Management, represented by Elaine Jones, CEO of ASTECO, the largest real estate leasing and facility Management Company in the UAE partnering with us to support the Under 10 age group development. ASTECO has made the commitment to support and sponsor all of our equipment needs for the School Circuit competitions which are organized by TE as part of our Play & Stay programs and we hope to expand on the program in the future.”

“Secondly, we were able to renew our long term partnership with Sun and Sand Sports in cooperation with NIKE, represented by Vishal Bathia, Marketing Manager Sun and Sand Sport, to support our National Davis Cup team and we look forward to expanding this agreement into a national partnership to also support the national competitions and the junior development initiatives”.

“Wilson Sporting Goods and NIK Trading, represented by Kamyar Minachi, Managing Director of NIK Trading, have partnered early in the season with TE in the “Official Ball” category. Wilson Sporting Goods, the top tennis brand in the world and the preferred tennis ball among most players has made the commitment to support TE for the next three seasons and all official competitions and leagues matches under TE sanction will endorse the use of the “Wilson US Open” ball.  We are happy to be able to attract the leading tennis brands to support us and I am sure this will positively reflect on the brands as well.”

Raymond Sports (RS), represented by Managing Director Mr. Raymond Kelly, a leading sports equipment supplier in the Middle East and a long term supporter of TE has partnered with TE for three seasons to support the overall strategy of the Association. “RS is one of the best tennis court builders in the region and we see a lot of added benefits for both parties to work together,” added Al Nuaimi.

“A big thank you also goes to Falak Holding and its representative Mr. Mansour Falaknaz, which not only supports the TE National Teams financially but has now entered into the 27th season of sponsoring the national tennis league. Falak Holding is again the title sponsor of the UAE National Tennis League and we are proud to look back to such a long term relationship with one of the top companies in the UAE.”

“The future is bright for tennis in the UAE not only since the Davis Cup victory,” explains Eric Gottschalk, CEO of Mediapro Middle East, “We have a very committed team to improve all aspects of the game but we still lack the commercial support to enable us to roll out our grass root development and the high performance programs and to grant us access to tennis facilities. Most tennis facilities are too small (less than 3 courts on average) and not up to the international standard.”

“As an Association, Tennis Emirates is already the most developed National Association in the UAE as there is no other sport that can offer what we have put in place recently, namely the interactive website, national competition schedule, membership program, coaches education program, grass root development, etc. Tennis is even more developed in many areas than football but for sure the top Olympic sport in the UAE. Our strategy is simple: bring more players (with key focus on UAE National talents) to the game to win more medals - everything else will naturally fall into place. As soon as we show sporting success the government and corporate partners will recognize the value of TE.”

Tennis Emirates already has many success stories to tell: TE is ranked 2nd to Kuwait in the GCC based on players performances, the UAE offers the highest prize money in competitions in the Middle East and the most international competitions by featuring 14 weeks of junior and adult tournaments from Dubai Open, to Under 18 ITF’s.

TE was also in ranked 6th place (out of 29 Olympic sports) in the recent UAE Sports Award Ceremony, which recognizes the achievements in international competitions. Key achievements were several top finishes in GCC and West Asian competitions in 2009, like the GCC singles championships of Rashed Bushagr and the West Asian Championships of Fatma Janahi.

“We have achieved many miles stones this season and many people were sceptical when we announced the new strategy in October 2009. Now we have to build the future by focusing on player detection and development, mainly through community centers and tennis in schools. If we succeed in this area, then it’s only a matter of time before we reach our goals: 10,000 + registered tennis players in the UAE, a Davis Cup team playing in Group II, a women’s national team competing in Federation Cup and a UAE national player gaining direct entry into the Dubai Open,” believes Al Nuaimi.