Tournament News

Sabalenka, Swiatek head Middle East entry lists; Keys out of Doha

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Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka - WTA Finals Riyadh 2024
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World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka

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head the entry lists for the two upcoming WTA 1000 events in the Middle East, the Qatar TotalEnergies Open (starting on Feb. 9) and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (starting on Feb. 16).

The top two players in the world are joined by the entire Top 10, as of the cutoff PIF WTA Rankings of Jan. 13: Coco Gauff

View Profile , Jasmine Paolini
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, Zheng Qinwen,
Jessica Pegula
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, Elena Rybakina
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,
Emma Navarro
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, Barbora Krejcikova
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and
Daria Kasatkina
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.

Freshly crowned Australian Open champion Madison Keys

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has withdrawn from both Doha and Dubai with a lingering foot injury.

Having completed the first Doha hat trick in the tournament's history last year, Swiatek will be bidding for a fourth consecutive title this year. She is one of four former champions in the main-draw entry list, alongside Victoria Azarenka

View Profile (2012-13), Elise Mertens
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(2019) and Sabalenka (2020).

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    Champions Reel: How Jasmine Paolini won Dubai 2024

    Defending Dubai champion Paolini is one of five former winners in the main-draw list, alongside Elina Svitolina

    View Profile (2017-18), Belinda Bencic
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    (2019),
    Jelena Ostapenko
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    (2022) and Krejcikova (2023).

    Keys and Collins are the only withdrawals from either entry list to date, meaning that the last direct acceptance to Doha is McCartney Kessler (ranked No.47 as of last week) and the last direct acceptance to Dubai is Clara Tauson

    View Profile (ranked No.42 as of last week). Two players have entered the Dubai main draw using special rankings -- Bencic and Sorana Cirstea
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    -- but none have used special rankings to enter the Doha main draw.

    The first alternates to the 64-player Doha main draw are Anhelina Kalinina

    View Profile , Rebecca Sramkova
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    , Katerina Siniakova
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    and
    Ashlyn Krueger
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    . Former World No.1 Naomi Osaka
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    has withdrawn from the alternates list, while former US Open champion Emma Raducanu
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    is currently the 13th alternate.

    The first alternates to the 64-player Dubai main draw are Marie Bouzkova

    View Profile , Lulu Sun
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    , Peyton Stearns
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    and Kessler. Raducanu is currently the 17th alternate, while Osaka has not entered.

    Rybakina leads Abu Dhabi field; Vondrousova, Garcia receive wild cards

    Doha and Dubai are preceded by the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, a WTA 500 event starting on Feb. 3. Defending champion Rybakina leads the entry list, and is joined by last year's runner-up Kasatkina, Ostapenko, Australian Open semifinalist Paula Badosa

    View Profile , 2023 finalist Liudmila Samsonova
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    and former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez
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    . Former No.2 Ons Jabeur
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    is the last direct acceptance to the main draw and the first three alternates are Sun, Elina Avanesyan
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    and Sramkova.

    Three wild cards have been awarded to 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova

    View Profile , 2022 WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia
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    and Brisbane and Adelaide quarterfinalist
    Ashlyn Krueger
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    . Japan's Wakana Sonobe
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    , the 17-year-old Australian Open junior champion, has received a fourth wild card.

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      Champions Reel: How Elena Rybakina won Abu Dhabi 2024