The 3rd Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge got off to a great start, with temperatures hovering around 27dergress Celsius, low humidity and no wind; Perfect conditions for the group of match fit young athletes playing in the competition.

One tough opening match saw, the 1998 winner of the first Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge Kyra Nagy ranked 239 and seeded 9 for the Qualifiers play fellow Hungarian Adrienn Hegedus ranked 302 and seeded 6 for the competition. Play was characterised by long rallies and many close line calls before Hegedus sound enough form to finally overcome Nagy 6-3. 7-5.

Other matches played saw Marie Gaiane Milkailian (CZE), ranked 242 and seeded 6 beat Darina Mescova; seeded 25 convincingly with a 6-0, 6-1 win. While South African Van Rooyan showed great consistency to overcome Varmuza (CZE) 6-2, 6-3.

Antonia Voina of Germany proved to experienced for her opponent fellow German Martina. The pair traded many hard hitting rallies, but good shot selection and variety finally gave Vorina a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win.

The Most closely contested match of the day was between Karen Smith of Australia and Patrycja Bandrusowsk of Poland. The first set went to a tiebreak. Finally won by Bandrusowsk but Smith fought her way back into the game winning the second set 6-2 but a clever tactical change by the Polish player unsettled Smith allowing Bandrusowsk to close out the game with a final 6-2 in the thrid set.

Sponsored by:
HSBC, AMC, U.A.E. Tennis Association, I.T.F., Aztec, Hildon, Al Khaleej, Coca-Cola, A&E, Fine, Dubai T.V, Al Kamda General Trading L.L.C, Dunlop, Sun & Sand Sports.