Federer out to save reputation

Roger Federer is competing at the Dubai Open for his pride and his reputation. The top-seeded Swiss is also playing for prize money plus two helpings of appearance money. His inducement last year was withheld after he was accused of not giving his best effort.

The 21-year-old from Basle is by no means the first player to be accused of "tanking" a match. One of the most recent high-profile cases involved Marat Safin, who was fined after a lacklustre display against Grant Stafford, of South African, in the first round of the 2000 Australian Open.

Safin, the second seed here, was denied a place in the quarter-finals last night by Tommy Robredo, of Spain, No 34 in the rankings. But there was no doubt about the Russian's commitment. He scrapped for every ball with his customary mixture of brilliance and carelessness, Robredo edging the second-round contest, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, winning the tie-break, 7-3.

A year ago, when Federer was the sixth seed here, he defeated Adrian Voinea, of Romania, in the first round, 6-3, 6-4, and then lost to Rainer Schuettler, of Germany, in the second round, 6-3, 6-1. The tournament organisers witheld Federer's $12,450 (£7,920) prize money and appearance bonus and sent a tape of the Schuettler match to the ATP as evidence of Federer's alleged lack of effort.

The ATP told the organisers they had to pay Federer his prize money, which they did, while freezing his appearance money. Such fees, arranged between tournaments and players, are allowed at Tour events below the level of the nine ATP Masters Series championships. Federer was told he would be paid last year's Dubai Open appearance money on condition that he returned this year and tried his best.

Yesterday, after a first round win against the 103rd-ranked Irakli Labadze, of Georgia, 6-3, 6-3, the 21-year-old Federer admitted he had given up towards the end of his match against Schuettler. "The ATP reviewed the match and didn't believe I wasn't giving my best," he said. "The only thing I can say is that I was really tired and jet-lagged, and at 4-1 in the second [set] I really thought I had no more chance of winning. It's not that I just gave him the match, but it was very difficult for me."

Federer, one of the most talented and popular players in the game – he defeated Pete Sampras in reaching the 2001 Wimbledon quarter-finals – has won 16 of his 20 matches this season. He added the Marseilles title to his collection two weeks ago and reached the semi-finals in Rotterdam last week.

"For me it was quite a surprise that [Jeff Chapman] the tournament director in Dubai attacked me," Federer said. "I'm not happy that he talked badly about me. I believe I'm the last guy who is not giving his best, so I'm back to prove him wrong, not for the money. For me it's important that I stay professional and give my best so people don't come up with comments like last year."