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