Dubai, Feb 15 (IANS) After a week of surprises at the Qatar Open, where just two Top-8 seeds progressed past the quarterfinals, the top players are looking to right the ship this week in the Dubai Tennis Championships, the draw for which was released here on Saturday.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek top the draw, along with No. 3 Coco Gauff and No. 4 and defending champion Jasmine Paolini. The top eight seeds have first-round byes and will be getting into action in the second round.
The draw has thrown up some intriguing clashes with a few rematches from Doha on the cards — Sabalenka could face Ekaterina Alexandrova yet again while Zheng Qinwen will look for revenge if she faces Ons Jabeur in Round 2.
Swiatek, Rybakina, and Ostapenko are in the same half of the draw for the second week in a row. In Doha, Swiatek bested Rybakina in the quarterfinals before running into Ostapenko in the semifinals.
The 2019 Dubai champion Belinda Bencic returns to the tournament for the first time since becoming a mom. She could face No.8 seed Emma Navarro in the second round. Dubai is the second WTA 1000 stop on the WTA Tour and the main draw play starts on Sunday.
In the first quarter of the draw, top-seeded Sabalenka and Ekaterina Alexandrova could meet in the second round for the second straight week. An in-form Alexandrova toppled Sabalenka in Doha, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) en route to her third WTA 1000 semifinal. The win improved Alexandrova’s record against Sabalenka to 4-4.
Alexandrova will open against Veronika Kudermetova in the first round, with the winner to face Sabalenka.
Along with Sabalenka, No. 5, Jessica Pegula anchors the top quarter. In Doha, Pegula was one of the three seeds to make it to the quarterfinals, along with Swiatek and Elena Rybakina. Like Sabalenka, she eventually bowed out to Alexandrova. This week, Pegula will face either Liudmila Samsonova or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her opener.
Last year’s surprise runner-up Anna Kalinskaya is also in the top quarter and will face Elina Svitolina in the first round. The winner will play either Clara Tauson or Rebecca Sramkova.
In the second quarter, No. 3 Coco Gauff and No. 8 Emma Navarro lead this section of the draw and are hoping to rebound from their early Doha exits. They could face difficult opening matches.
Last week, Gauff lost in straight sets to Marta Kostyuk in the second round and could face Doha finalist Amanda Anisimova this week. It would be the first meeting between the two young Americans since Anisimova stunned Gauff at 2022 Wimbledon. Abu Dhabi champion Belinda Bencic is rested after having a week off, and she could face Navarro in the second round. A champion in Dubai in 2019, Bencic will have to navigate her way past Aoi Ito in the first round.
World No. 4 and defending champion Jasmine Paolini leads the third quarter of the draw along with No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina. Paolini will open her title defense against a qualifier, while Rybakina could have to take on a red-hot Jelena Ostapenko. Unseeded again this week, Ostapenko will open against a qualifier with the winner facing Rybakina. The Latvian enjoyed an outstanding week in Doha, where she notched two Top 5 wins over Paolini and Swiatek.
–IANS
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