2014 Tennis Grand Slams

After boasting of a tennis court high up in the air built atop the 1, 000-foot-tall Burj al Arab hotel, Dubai has wooed an architect to test the waters for an underwater tennis court. Polish architect Krysztof Kotala has proposed to build an underwater tennis complex located offshore in the Persian Gulf, between the Burj al Arab and the Palm Jumeirah islands.

Designed with a massive curved roof, the undersea complex will spread out to hold seven courts. The sports arena will also double up as an aquarium with a rooftop coral reef, which will put on display an abundance of sea life for spectators as well as players. Conceived to create an illusion of a natural atoll, once made, the glass covered court will add up to Dubai’s stunning record-breaking shoreline. However, engineers and developers have voiced apprehensions about building the underwater arena as it poses many challenges which, at the moment, seem impossible to overcome.

Some of the hurdles include creating a single piece of glass large enough to cover the structure and strong enough to withstand the pressure of the water. It is being estimated that the transparent ceiling would require a continuous pane of glass measuring at least 108 feet-wide to accommodate the court and spectators.

However Kotala is at ease with his ground-breaking plans and is not open to blow it out of the water, “This will be something original. It should be somewhere where there is the tradition of tennis. Dubai is perfect for this idea.”