Tim Henman, Pat Cash & co serve up unique Emirates Palace tennis event

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  • Peter McNamara and Marion Bartoli in action during their mixed doubles exhibition.

    What do you get when you mix a traditional British tennis garden party with an Emirati royal feel? A unique three-day exhibition event that saw some of the legends of the sport entertain the crowd with a feast of tennis and the Emirates Palace serving as a stunning backdrop.

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    While there has been no shortage of tennis tournaments in the UAE over the past decade or so, the Tennis at the Palace event brought something completely different to the table.

    Staged on a purpose-built court on the lawns of the Palace, the event brought grass-court tennis to the region for the very first time and it came along with tea, scones and a regal set-up.

    Retired players Tim Henman, Pat Cash, Younes El Aynaoui, Marion Bartoli, Jana Novotna, Richard Krajicek, Mikael Pernfors, Peter McNamara, Henri Leconte and Mansour Bahrami were the chosen ones for the inaugural edition of Tennis at the Palace and it was just an experience for them as it was for the spectators.

    The 10 players come from different generations – Bartoli is the youngest at just 30 years of age, while Bahrami is 58 – but exhibition tennis has become a common ground for these retirees.

    Cash, a Wimbledon champion in 1987, had ball-boyed for McNamara as a child and many years later, was an established star when he agreed to hit with a teenage Krajicek at a tournament in Seoul.

    They all converged on Abu Dhabi to bring some light-hearted tennis interrupted by tea breaks, typical Leconte skits and a stream of Bahrami’s signature trick shots.

    The event was held under the patronage of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikha Shaikha bint Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan, an avid tennis fan and strong supporter of the sport.

    Thursday night was Ladies Night and a host of Emirati women were in attendance.

    “Sheikha Shaikha is our patron and she’s been fantastic,” said Vicky Collins, the tournament director.

    “One of the key things we set out to do was to make sure we did something for local females. So we’ve created this environment on Thursday evening where we had many local Emirati women come to an environment they felt safe in and they could watch the guys play tennis, so that’s really unique.

    “It’s the tennis players that pointed it out, they said ‘this is actually groundbreaking, we’re playing for local Emiratis, for Sheikhas and they’re watching guys play tennis, this is a first of a kind’. And actually, out of it all, that’s probably the most proud I felt.”

    Henman hopes he gets invited back for next year’s edition.

    “When I had the opportunity to play here it was an immediate ‘yes’. If they want me, I’ll be back for sure,” said the ex-British No1.

    One can understand why he’d like to come back. Besides the luxurious hospitality and the actual tennis, the players got to enjoy some off-court activities. Marion Bartoli and Jana Novotna went shopping at Avenue at Etihad Towers, a group of the guys had a few rounds of golf at Yas Links, while Cash, El Aynaoui and Henman went sailing on the Etihad Towers Volvo 60 – an incredibly fast yacht that had previously sailed around the world in the Volvo Ocean Race.

    I had the privilege of joining the trio on the Volvo 60, skippered by acclaimed sailor Philippe Falle.

    It was a very windy day and it’s fair to say none of us were prepared for the adventure that was to come. Who knew those yachts sailed at such a sharp angle. We were tilted at at least 30 degrees (felt like 90) the whole time and it wasn’t easy shaking the feeling that were about to tip over.

    “The yacht was great fun. [Phillippe] didn’t tell us we couldn’t flip over. Why didn’t he tell us that in the beginning? We would have relaxed a little bit,” laughed Cash.

    Players enjoy the trip on the yacht, with our very own Reem Abulleil (r) in attendance.

    The Aussie was impressive nonetheless as he and Henman had a proper workout in raising the sail, completing the feat in 80 seconds, not too far off the original crew’s record of 55.

    Henman was apprehensive at the start but was soon dangling his legs off the side of the boat with Aynaoui, who was like a young boy at a candy store.

    Asked what he enjoyed the most of his time in Abu Dhabi, Henman said: “I don’t like to single out one thing but to have the chance to go on a yacht like that I thought was pretty special and with that type of wind we had, 25 knots, it was pretty exciting.”

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