World’s Highest Tennis Court

The iconic video on the hotel’s helipad went viral across the globe

by Sean Gallagher

It was a moment when the whole world seemed to sit up and take notice. On February 22, 2005, tennis legends Roger Federer and Andre Agassi exchanged forehands atop the Burj Al Arab, helping create one of the most watched videos in the history of the sport.

The helipad of the ultra-luxurious five-star hotel – more than 200 metres above sea level – had been transformed into a “grass” tennis court for a match between two of the sport’s most recognisable stars.

Organised by Dubai Duty Free, the ATP, and the Jumeirah Group, the shoot—originally conceptualised to be a promotional exercise for the city’s tennis Championships—turned into something far greater. It was estimated by the ATP that nearly half the planet saw the hero image, with the subsequent content produced going viral both online and in print.

Asked about the genesis of the shoot, Sinead El Sibai, SVP-Marketing, Dubai Duty Free said: “We wanted to do something on a grand scale to highlight the tournament, to feature the iconic Burj Al Arab, and of course to promote Dubai as a leading destination.

It was imperative that we had the buy-in of the players and we really wanted Roger to be one of the players. He’d won our tournament in 2003 and 2004 and was already being hailed as one of the greatest players of all time.

When Iggy Jovanovich from the ATP spoke to him about the shoot, he immediately agreed. “We then got confirmation that Andre Agassi was going to play [in] Dubai for the very first time, which was great news. Andre was 34 at the time and coming to the end of his long career, so we felt that Roger and Andre were an ideal fit.

“The shoot went off without a hitch despite shamal winds in the morning, which luckily had tapered off by the afternoon when filming was scheduled. Photographers were positioned in key locations across the Burj Al Arab and a helicopter was ready to circle the hotel with a film crew on board.

Read & Watch: Federer looks back on iconic moments with Agassi on Burj Al Arab helipad (2017)

The players were briefed on what to expect when they stepped on to the helipad and then it was all systems go. It was clear to those watching below that the players were blown away once they stepped out to be greeted with the most amazing view of a city that was really taking shape. On the shoot itself, Roger said at the time: “It was an unbelievable experience. Doing it with Andre who is a legend of the game to promote the tournament in Dubai, which is a tournament I really love coming back to, was something special.

“Having this iconic picture of the two of us in Dubai playing on the helipad with this court all alone just playing with a helicopter watching over us was very special for us to do and it’s definitely a special place in the world for sure.”

Meanwhile, Agassi’s maiden appearance at the then Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open – and f irst visit to the emirate itself – was a memorable one. “It’s amazing,” the American added. “Walking up here… first of all, once you get over the drama of being so high and you come up those stairs and see they’ve put a tennis court up there, it’s quite a feeling. Once you start playing all you start seeing is the ball again and it’s pretty… sort of a free falling. It’s pretty weird when you’re tossing the ball though, it feels like you’re tossing it a mile high!”

The production turnround was equally impressive, with the picture and video edit completed on the same day. “Once the shoot was completed, we rushed back to the tournament press office to download the images and to start editing the video,” said El Sibai. “When we were uploading the pictures, the working media gathered around us and a few asked if the images were real. I was able to tell them emphatically that yes it was real as I had been there!”

The historic shot of Federer and Agassi atop Burj Al Arab became one of the most iconic images of Dubai overnight, with the media coverage of the publicity match still unsurpassed – generating a total PR value of more than US$2 billion. CNN devoted 28 minutes of airtime, the BBC dubbed it the ‘Helipad Open’, and ABC covered it on Good Morning America, while several news channels repeated the footage over the course of 24 hours. Gerard Lawless, former CEO and Executive Chairman of the Jumeirah Group, later shared his memories of an afternoon that captured the imagination of the media around the world.

“The Federer-Agassi match on the helipad of Burj Al Arab in 2005 became such an iconic image of Dubai—imaginative, daring, dynamic,” he said. It is hard to believe that the famous images and video footage of the “Helipad Open” were taken 20 years ago—and yet no surprise at all they continue to provoke interest in all who view them.