Barclays second year of title sponsorship for Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships

With the fantastic line-up of all of the top ten female tennis players, this year's tournament is anticipated to attract additional interest from local and international tennis fans.

Furthermore, seven of the top ten male players will be participating. The all-star tennis cast will include last year's defending champions Andy Roddick and Elena Dementieva, as well as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and both the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena.

Ahmed Khizer Khan, Chief Executive of Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Banking, Emerging Markets, said:

"This year's line-up of players is simply awesome. We feel that each match will be equally thrilling as this is what you would expect when the world's best tennis players gather in one place."

Barclays has been associated with key sporting events world-wide, such as the Barclays Premier League, which the Group has sponsored for the past 7 years, first for 3 years under the Barclaycard brand and then for the subsequent 4 years under the Barclays brand.

More recently, Barclays has put an emphasis on sponsoring tennis events as well. In 2007, Barclays partnered with Dubai Duty Free for a three-year sponsorship of BDTC.

Commenting on the second year of partnership with Barclays, Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free, said," We are delighted with Barclays' role as title sponsors once again this year, they have been great partners for the tournament and through their own initiatives have helped open up the event across the region as a whole."

Khan also advised that last year Barclays signed a five-year deal with ATP to become title sponsor of its end-of-season finals from 2009 under the name Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Libby Chambers, Chief Marketing Officer of Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Banking and Barclaycard, said: "We are very pleased to be bringing the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals to London for the very first time this year. The event will feature the world's top eight men singles players and top eight men's doubles teams - there is no better way to end the tennis season."

"Ultimately, we anticipate our involvement with the BDTC and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals will support the link of our brand with world-class tennis events and help us get closer to our customers through corporate hospitality and onsite activities," added Chambers.

Tennis fans will be able to purchase tickets at the BDTC this month for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals to be held in November 2009. The tickets will be sold at Barclays' corporate hospitality stand.