World number one Iga Swiatek and reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka are in attendance, but reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova is absent.
Eight of the top ten women’s tennis players in the WTA rankings will play in Dubai, including Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina, as well as former champions Jelena Ostapenko and Elina Svitolina.
Analysis of the drawing
The upper half:
Best seeds: [1] Iga Swiatek, [3] Coco Gauff, [5] Mr Jabert, [6] Zheng Qingwen.
Top seed Iga Swiatek got off to a good start in the Middle East by beating Elena Rybakina in the Qatar Open final. Iga will also be a favorite in Dubai.
Another tennis player to watch out for will be Elina Svitolina, who knocked out the world number one at Wimbledon last year. The Ukrainian could well become a serious test for Swiatek.
Iga’s expected opponent in the quarterfinals is Australian Open finalist Zheng Qingwen. The Chinese woman could well beat the first din in the world.
In the second part of the draw, Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur will try to recover from their recent early elimination in Qatar. The American will start against Elise Mertens or Lesia Tsurenko.
Then the path to the quarterfinals is relatively easy, except for a possible match with Karolina Pliskova. However, we must appreciate the recent exploits of Karolina Pliskova.
Jabeur can meet Jelena Ostapenko in the 1/8 finals. Elena has a solid record this season – 14-3 and deserves attention in this section, especially since she has already won in Dubai.
Forecast: Jelena Ostapenko beats Zheng Qingwen.
Lower half:
Best seeds: [2] Arina Sabalenko, [4] Elena Rybakina, [7] Marketa Vondrousova, [8] Maria Sakkari
Aryna Sabalenka faces a difficult first match after winning the Australian Open, facing Donna Vekic or Wang Xinyu.
There are other interesting players in this part of the draw, like Australian Open semi-finalist Dayana Yastermskaya and Veronika Kudermetova. Sabalenka will also be able to meet Sorana Kirstei and Sofia Kenin, who last year managed to sensationally beat the Belarusian tennis player.
Sabalenka’s supposed opponent in the quarterfinals, Wimbledon champion Markete Vondrousova, also has a difficult draw, where there are several Russians – Lyudmila Samsonova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Elena Rybakina lost in the final at the Qatar Open and in Doha she will face former world number one Victoria Azarenka in the first round.
Also in this bracket is Maria Sakkari, who has only won 4 matches this year and has long been seen as a random player in the WTA top 10. So it’s unlikely to go far in Dubai either.
Forecast: Aryna Sabalenka will defeat Béatrice Addad Maia.
Prediction for the final
Arina Sabalenka will beat Jelena Ostapenko
Vyacheslav Gorbachev/Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
