The vice president of Tennis Emirates expresses frustration with their inability to develop good pros. Dubai hosts two premier WTA and ATP tournaments, but has no players of note.
"There is a lot to do but it's not being done and this is unfortunate," Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, told the Gulf News. "We have not been able to do what we should have done. We tried hard and we are still trying, but we need to pay more attention to the development of the sport at the grassroots level and we have not been able to do so.
"Omar [Behroozian] is still the number one in the UAE, but he probably has a year or two remaining as a player. Hamad [Abbas Al Janahi] is in the US and Mahmoud Nader too can get busy with his job. And then what do we do after that? I am sorry to say that as an administrator for the sport, we have been unable to deliver. We don't have a tennis centre to start with. I have to go with a begging bowl to the clubs asking them for the courts to practice or hold tournaments. Unfortunately we are the only ones in the region who do not have a dedicated tennis facility for the national association. And yet we have some good results to show."—Matthew Cronin