Day one of Emirates NBD's The Legends “Rock” Dubai 2008 got on the way with the first match between former World N.6 Wayne Ferreira from South Africa and former World N.5 Anders Jarryd of Sweden.

From the first point of the match it was the South African that looked more in control and very quickly raced to lead, first set was over in no time, 6-1 to Ferreira.

Second set was a complete opposite of the first; Jarryd lifted his game and a few errors creeped into Ferreira's game, second set 6-1 to Jarryd. Match Tie Break went to Jarryd. As Anders Jarryd admitted after the match “I was caught by surprise. It was a very strange match, I started slow and Wayne (Ferreira) played great from the beginning, then I've lifted my game and I got a bit lucky too.”

Final score Jarryd 1-6; 6-1; 11-9 match tie break.

Next was the doubles match with Stefan Edberg and John Fitzgerald up against Jim Courier and Mansour Bahrami. It was a highly anticipated match and it did not disappoint. Bahrami was his entertaining self, making impossible shots and keeping the crowd begging for more. Jim Courier was evenly impressive from the back of the court and at the net. It was an incredibly close match, but the feather touch of Fitzgerald and the magnificent volleys of Edberg did not pass the test of “the Rock” paired up with Mansour the Magnificent. Final score 8-7(8-6 match tie break). After the match Stefan Edberg said: “You never know what to except when you playing Bahrami.”

The final match of the day saw the defending champion Paul Haarhuis taking on Spanish clay court maestro Sergi Bruguera. Bruguera's heavy spins were hard to deal with. The Spaniard's finesse was dazzling but Haahuis' perseverance saw him through, he broke on 11 th game in first set and then successfully held serve to close the fist set 7-5. Second set went in the similar fashion, Haarhuis broke on 7 th game. Final score 7-5; 6-4; After the match Paul Haarhuis admitted: “It was a tough match, but I was pleased to keep my undefeated streak here in Dubai .” Sergi Bruguera's comments were: “It was a great feeling to play here, it felt good, but it is always tough with Paul (Haarhuis) he always beats me, and this court is very fast I was not able to play my game.“