World No.1 Iga Swiatek and No.2 Aryna Sabalenka top the full entry list for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which is set to feature the entire Top 10 on the Hologic WTA Tour. The tournament caps off the tour's swing through the Middle East in February, which begins with the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi and the WTA 1000 tournament in Doha.
"It is fantastic to have so many of the world’s top female players with us once more in Dubai," said tournament director Salah Tahlak. "Every year this tournament grows in significance, further underlined by the permanent WTA 1000 status the competition has been awarded."
Swiatek was a finalist in Dubai last year, losing to Barbora Krejcikova. The Czech is set to return to Dubai to defend her first WTA 1000 title. She comes off a confidence-boosting two weeks in Melbourne, where she advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Sabalenka. Last year, Krejcikova became the third player in tour history to defeat the reigning Top 3 en route to a title.
Sabalenka, No.3 Elena Rybakina, No.4 Coco Gauff, and No.5 Jessica Pegula will also return to Dubai. Rybakina was a finalist in 2020, while Gauff and Pegula posted their best results in Dubai last year by making the semifinals.
In all, 18 of the Top 20 have entered Dubai, with the lone holdouts being Petra Kvitova (maternity leave) and Madison Keys (ongoing shoulder injury).
Dubai Entry List:
Iga Swiatek
Aryna Sabalenka
Elena Rybakina
Coco Gauff
Jessica Pegula
Ons Jabeur
Marketa Vondrousova
Maria Sakkari
Karolina Muchova
Jelena Ostapenko
Barbora Krejcikova
Beatriz Haddad Maia
Daria Kasatkina
Liudmila Samsonova
Zheng Qinwen
Veronika Kudermetova
Caroline Garcia
Ekaterina Alexandrova
Victoria Azarenka
Elina Svitolina
Magda Linette
Donna Vekic
Emma Navarro
Sorana Cirstea
Elise Mertens
Anastasia Potapova
Anhelina Kalinina
Jasmine Paolini
Angelique Kerber
Zhu Lin
Lesia Tsurenko
Marie Bouzkova
Paula Badosa
Leylah Fernandez
Wang Xinyu
Marta Kostyuk
Karolina Pliskova
Varvara Gracheva
Petra Martic
Sofia Kenin
Tatjana Maria
Caroline Dolehide
Sloane Stephens
(Main-draw cutoff date: Jan. 22, 2024)
