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Dubai: 20 years ago, Federer and Agassi played a famous match on Burj Al Arab helipad
Khaleej Times spoke to one of the three photographers who took those stunning images and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis organisers who executed the plan on February 22, 2005
From Iceland to New Zealand, people in every country across the world may point to Burj Khalifa and Tom Cruise when you ask them what comes to their mind when they think of Dubai.
Who could blame them after the makers of Mission Impossible created the most jaw-dropping action scene in which Cruise jumps off a Burj Khalifa window and climbs up several floors, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats?
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But a few years before Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol hit the screens, Dubai made global headlines when stunning images of Roger Federer and Andre Agassi, two of the most iconic tennis players in history, hitting the ball on the helipad of the majestic Burj Al Arab spread like wildfire.
That iconic Federer-Agassi tennis match has completed 20 years today — February 22.
Watch the video here:
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships organisers’ highly ambitious plan to promote their tournament and the city of Dubai still holds a special place in the hearts of everyone who played a part on that historic day in 2005.
One of them is Jorge Ferrari, the UAE-based photographer who was next to the two players on the helipad as they traded shots and banters at more than a thousand feet above the Arabian Gulf.
“Every year the tournament organises photo shoots with the top players to promote the tournament and Dubai. So there were always brainstorming sessions before the tournament, and this came up. And I was asked to do the still pictures,” the Argentinian expat recalled.
The organisers hired videographers and three photographers, two from Getty Images.
“One of the Getty Images photographers took images from the helicopter and the second was on a small bridge on top of the Burj Al Arab. Their job was to get the best views from the top as the players played and my job was to capture their emotions from the helipad,” Ferrari said.
Federer and Agassi enjoyed every moment of it, playing the shots and admiring the stunning views from the top.
“A lot of the time the players just do what you ask them to do for the pictures. But they carried on that for about 20 minutes. They were enjoying it and I remember one of them started hitting balls into the sea. And they made their own little competition to see who can hit it farther,” Ferrai smiled.
But the veteran photographer had no idea that those images would attain iconic status in less than 24 hours.
“We realised the next day that it was a massive shoot because the pictures were all over the place. There was the internet, but there was no social media. But it went viral when the viral word didn't exist for this kind of event,” he said.
Ramesh Cidambi, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free and Chairman of the tournament’s Organising Committee, was brimming with pride while reflecting on that historic occasion.
“It was iconic. You need good fortune to have an idea like that and to have iconic players like Andre Agassi and Roger Federer who were here for the tournament,” Cidambi said.
“It caught fire in the imagination of the people. I think many things came together and it’s a nice milestone when we think of the evolution of the tournament over the years.”
Salah Tahlak, Tournament Director and Deputy Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free, revealed why it was not an easy plan to execute.
“It was very special because to do something like that was very complicated,” he said.
“We needed a lot of approvals (from different organisations), so when we did that it felt so special.”
Ahead of the D-Day — February 22, 2005 — what Sinead El Sibai, Senior Vice President - Marketing, Dubai Duty Free, was worried about was the ‘shamal’ (wind in Arabic) playing havoc with their dream Federer-Agassi match on the helipad of Burj Al Arab, which stands on an artificial island in the Arabian Gulf.
“Shamal was a big worry, but luckily the weather was good and when ATP saw it (the stunning video from the top), they were blown away, not by the wind, but by the view,” El Sibai said. “The shots taken from the helicopter were incredible. Someone from Dubai Tourism called me later to say that it was the first viral video from Dubai.
“So people were amazed because it looked so amazing, and we got the video out that evening and we had messages from so many people who had seen it on CNN and Sky News.
“Even Andre Agassi’s manager called it magical and said it can never be recreated.”
Ferrari doffed his hat to the country’s leadership whose incredible vision keeps inspiring people to create these moments of magic.
“Dubai does amazing things and we can never thank the leaders of this country enough for their vision and organisations like the Dubai Duty Free who are always coming up with great ideas to promote tennis and Dubai,” he said.
“And I feel so happy now that I was part of something incredible. Even 20 years after that shoot we are still remembering that day. That's truly amazing.”
Rituraj Borkakoty
Rituraj Borkakoty is Sports Editor and has spent more than two decades writing on his sporting heroes. He also loves an underdog story, so if you have one, share it with him. He would love to bring it to life.
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