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Dubai: He holds his place in the record books of tennis. He is possibly the most recognised official face in the world of tennis.
And as the tournament referee at the women's tournament of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Alan Mills can only see this competition grow even further, depending on the player response to this annual tournament.
"So long as the top players keep coming to Dubai, this tournament will grow even higher in stature," Mills told Gulf News as he went about supervising matches.
Mills was the tournament referee at Wimbledon from 1982 to 2005. Given the history of unpredictable weather at the second Grand Slam of the season, Mills was known as the "Rain Man" the world over.
He eventually went on to jot down his musings of having spent more than two decades officiating at the only grass court Grand Slam in his 2005 autobiography entitled Lifting the Covers.
Mills was himself an accomplished tennis player and at the age of 17 was the senior county champion in his home county of Lancashire. He reached the last 16 in the men's singles at Wimbledon on two occasions.
But perhaps he may be best remembered for being the first man in the history of the Davis Cup to win a match with the scoreline 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, completing the match in just 32 minutes.
But now, Mills travels with his wife to Dubai each year and takes over as the tournament referee for a week doing only a fraction of what he used to do supervising 18 courts over two weeks of intense action during Wimbledon.
The eighth edition of the women's competition in Dubai features an amazing line-up of the world's best players.
The main draw is so packed with big names that only one player outside the top-20 has been guaranteed direct entry to the event.
Some of the top names such as Eleni Daniilidou, Vera Dushevina, Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama played in the qualifiers for the main draw.
"This tournament has grown so much over the years, and I am sure it will grow even more as the organisers want to do something new and fresh each year. In Dubai, they are always striving for perfection," Mills observed.
Dubai Duty Free, owners and organisers of this competition, are in the process of building a new hotel within the venue.
"There is something different happening here each year and they are always trying to see ways on how they can improve all the time. The new hotel will ensure that all players remain on-site all the time," Mills stated.
Results
Second round:
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) bt Sybille Bammer (AUT) 6-3, 6-2
Elena Dementieva (RUS x8) bt Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 6-2, 6-1
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x2) bt Lucie Safarova (CZE) 6-1, 6-2
Anna Chakvetadze (RUS x6) bt Dinara Safina (RUS) 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-3
Jelena Jankovic (SRB x4) bt Sania Mirza (IND) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) bt Akiko Morigami (JPN) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
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