With the recent news of Qatar winning the bid for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I was reminded that both the ATP and WTA tours play a tournament in the capitol city of Doha. The men’s tournament, the ATP Qatar ExxonMobil Open, is a part of the World Tour 250 Series and features 32 players from the tour. It is played on the outdoor hard courts at Khalifa International Tennis Complex and features prize money totaling $1,110,250. The 2010 tournament was played in January and was won by Nikolay Davydenko as he defeated Rafeal Nadal. The women’s tournament is actually their WTA Tour Championships and only the top eight women in the world participate. From 2008-2010, the tournament was held in Qatar, as it changes venues every few years. It was played at the end of October and features a round robin in the first round, as the eight women are split into two groups. The top two from the groups advance to the semi-finals and the winners of those matches play each other in the final. This year, Kim Clijsters defeated Caroline Wozniacki to claim the title, her third in her three trips to the tournament. The women also play at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex, but their purse is much higher, as the women play for a total of $4.45 million.
This is interesting in (1) the purse for the women is much higher than that of the men and (2) if a tennis tournament works in Qatar, why not soccer? I wish I had read this before commenting on your previous blog. Although this is not selling me on Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, it is interesting know that they can host a major tournament for men and women's tennis. I wonder if FIFA took this into consideration. Good post.
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