November 16, 1992
Dubai Duty Free and BMW announced they would host the first ever world-ranking tennis tournament in the Middle East, which had a prize purse of $1 million (Dh3.67 million).
January 31, 1993
Morocco's Youness Al Aynaoui, the only Arab player in the 32-strong singles line-up for the Dubai Duty Free/BMW Tennis Open, was one of the four qualifiers who swept past his opponents and made it through to the tournament proper with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory over Burrillo.
Another match with maximum mileage was between two Russians — Anastasia Myskina and Dinara Safina. Myskina's experience showed through and she won a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
February 1, 1993
Seed 3 Karel Novacek of Czech Republic defeat Daniel Vacek of Czech Republic with a 6-0, 7-5 score and Seed 6 Andrei Cherkasov of Russia beat Michiel Schapers of the Netherlands with 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 score. Fifth seed Emilio Sanchez was defeated by Joan Cunha-Silva by 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Sanchez and Novacek said that they were delighted playing in Dubai. "This is a great place and the arrangements are super," said Emilio.
February 2, 1993
Morocco's Youness Al Aynaoui was swamped 6-2, 6-3 by top seed Alexander Volkov in a lopsided first round. Spain's Javier Sanchez ensured that the family flag would keep flying with a resolute straight sets win over Sweden's Anders Jarryd at 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, while fourth seed Carl-Uwe Steeb survived a war of attrition against fellow German Bernd Karbacher 7-5 4-6 7-5 and said it felt good to win "even though I was not playing so well".
February 3, 1993
Second seed Thomas Muster (left) battled through what he termed unplayable conditions and several crises to snatch a place in the quarterfinals by defeating Marcos Aurelio Gorriz of Spain by 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 and Seed 3 Karel Novacek beat Lars Wahlgren of Sweden. "I felt like I was playing in the fog," said Muster afterwards. "It was slippery and dangerous." Gorriz dismissed Muster's complaints with a wave of his hand. "It wasn't that bad. Yes, it was windy, but not that difficult."
February 7, 1993
Given a wild card and a subsequent eighth seeding, Frenchman Fabrice Santoro (right) first eliminated top seed Alexander Volkov 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the morning's quarterfinals and then outmaneuvered Jeremy Bates with even more delicate baseline display 6-2, 6-4 three hours later in the semifinals. The twin-win totally eclipsed the big Czech Karel Novacek's authoritative 7-5, 6-4 victory over Thomas Muster in the first semifinal.
February 8, 1993
Third seed Karel Novacek of Czech captured first the Dubai Tennis Open by defeating eight seed Fabrice Santoro (right) of France by 6-4, 7-5. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, presented the winners with sparkling silver dhows and khanjars, besides the whopping prize money.
