This is a man's world...

Andy Murray's first-round match against Igor Kunitsyn at the Barclays Dubai Championships today was conspicuous. Not because it was the first match he has played since losing in the Australian Open and not because of the clinical 6-2, 6-3 scoreline - even though the first three games lasted as long as one of Steffi Graf's finals, where she crushed her poor opponent 6-0, 6-0.

This match was conspicious because it was being umpired by a female official. I've seen women umpiring men's singles matches at the Grand Slams before - in fact Sandra de Jenken made history in 2007 by becoming the first woman to umpire a men's singles final.

It is unlikely that this is the first time a female official has umpired a men's tour match, but it is a rare sight for the regular tennis spectator. And talking of female emancipation, Amy Fearn also made history this month when she became the first woman to take charge of a Football League match between Coventry City and Nottingham Forest. She came on as a sub 20 minutes from time for referee Tony Bates when he suffered a calf injury.

"It was great. I could get used to that every week," she said after the match. "I always have a laugh with the referee before the game saying 'Go on, give me 10 minutes'. When it happened, it felt surreal.

"Last night will raise the profile of women in football and it can only be a good thing for encouraging more women into the game"

"I understand there was a big reaction from the crowd but I didn't notice it at the time. I'm just glad there was nothing controversial in that 20 minutes. Football should be about the players, not referees.

"Last night will raise the profile of women in football and it can only be a good thing for encouraging more women into the game."

Ms Fearn is no stranger to controversy, after inciting the sexist fury of Mike Newell when she decided not to grant a penalty to Luton Town. Newell was fined £6,500 by the FA for his post-match outburst in which he said: "She shouldn’t be here. This is Championship football, not park football. What are women doing here? It’s tokenism — for the politically correct idiots."

But after the Coventry vs Nottingham Forest match she garnered praise from Sky Blues striker Clinton Morrison, who said: "I thought she did really well and she should definitely get to do it again. She must have been nervous, as any referee would on their first game, but she was not overawed and kept the game flowing."

Image credits:

Top left: Getty Images; Bottom right: Action Images

Vote for your favourite tennis player

The ATP World Tour 2009 Awards will be announced on February 18th. You can vote for the Fans' Favourite Award via the official website.

Good weekend for British tennis players

Elena Baltacha beat 64-ranked Lucie Hradecka to win the ITF Midland tournament in Michigan - the biggest tournament win of her career. She has jumped from 83 to 70 in the rankings.

Meanwhile Jamie Murray and partner Jonny Marray won the Challenger tournament in Bergamo, beating tour veteran Karol Beck and partner Jiri Krkoska 6-1, 6-7 (2) 10-8.

Tired tennis players taking more time off

Andy Murray has decided to pull out of the Open 13 tournament in Marseille to give himself more recovery time after his run to the Australian Open final two weeks ago. His next tournament will now be Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships starting February 22nd.

According to a statement on his official website, he is giving himself more time to recuperate in preparation for the long season ahead (click here to see what Murray said about his withdrawal from Marseille).

Murray had already decided not to defend his title in Rotterdam this week. The Dubai tournament will also be Roger Federer's first tournament since winning the Australian Open.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal will not return until the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after retiring injured in the third set of his quarter final against Murray. Juan Martin del Potro has also this week been ruled out for four weeks with a wrist injury and will miss Argentina's Davis Cup tie against Sweden next month.

Novak Djokovic was the first of the top five to return to tour last week in Rotterdam but despite having one walk over and one opponent retire in the second set, he was pipped by Mikhael Youzhny in the semis.

These absences once again draw attention to the issue of the tennis calendar. Murray's comments were telling: already he's thinking about preserving physical and, most likely, mental energy for the rest of the year and yet he has only played an exhibition tournament and a Grand Slam in 2010.

At November's ATP World Tour Finals Nadal looked exhausted, as did Djokovic, suggesting just what a toll 11 months of tennis takes on the body and mind. The once formidable Nadal now looks a shadow of his former self.

With the players being fitter and stronger than ever there is so much more demand on them, physically and mentally, and matches must take more out of them than they have ever done before.

Perhaps it's time for the ATP to reassess the calendar so that the players can enjoy long careers in the sport and we can continue to enjoy fantastic contests between them. Click here to read about my suggestions for shortening the tennis season.