With the first Grand Slam tournament ending earlier this month, players will now focus on winning titles on the WTA tour. There will be several WTA tournaments on the calendar this month. One of the most anticipated tournaments will be the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. The event will begin on February 17th. This week, tournament organizers confirmed that Elina Svitolina, a two-time champion at the event, will play as a wildcard.
Svitolina offered wildcard spot
Svitolina won the title in 2017 and 2018 before Belinda Bencic defeated her in the semifinals last year. Bencic went on to win the tournament and will be returning to defend her title. As for Svitolina, she will be hoping to win her third title despite being a wildcard.
Three reigning Grand Slam champions to play in Dubai
The Ukrainian had an impressive run in the latter half of last season. After recovering from a knee injury, she reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the US Open. She qualified for the WTA Finals in Shenzhen where she made it to the final but lost to Ashleigh Barty. Organizers of the Dubai tournament said they were delighted to offer the two-time champion the wild card spot. Sahal Tahlak, the tournament director said they considered her a contender at the tournament. “Elina Svitolina will certainly be a leading contender for the title, even though she faces a field that includes so many other members of the top 10.”
Svitolina will have to go through a strong field of candidates if she is to win her third title. Three reigning Grand Slam champions will play in Dubai. Sofia Kenin will make an appearance after her recent triumph in Australia. Reigning Wimbledon champion, Simona Halep, will also play at the tournament. She was in fine form in Australia, reaching the semifinals before falling to Garbine Muruguza. The other reigning champion expected to play in Dubai is Bianca Andreescu. The US Open champion is yet to play competitively this season after injuring her knee during the WTA Finals last year.
Apart from the Grand Slam champions, current world number three, Karolina Pliskova, will play in Dubai. Ashleigh Barty withdrew from the event after she suffered an injury. Announcing the news, the world number one said she was disappointed but looked forward to playing in Dubai in the future. “Unfortunately, I am withdrawing from the Dubai Duty-Free Championships due to a right foot injury. Best wishes to the players and tournament and I look forward to playing in Dubai soon.”
Elina Svitolina’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked world no.4, Elina played her last match on the 25th of January when she was defeated by Garbine Muguruza 6-1 6-2 in the 3rd round of the Australian Open.
Ashleigh Barty’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked no.1, the Australian played her last match on the 30th of January when she had to bow to Sofia Kenin 7-66 7-5 in the semifinal of the Australian Open.
At present, this year Ashleigh has a 9-2 win-loss record. The Australian clinched 1 title in Adelaide.
Elina Svitolina and Ashleigh Barty played each other 6 times. The head to head is 5-1 for Svitolina.
The last time that they locked horns, Ashleigh Barty won 6-4 6-3 in the final in Shenzhen (WTA Finals) in November 2019.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
Simona Halep’s ranking and performance in 2020
Now the world no.2, Simona played her last match on the 30th of January when she capitulated to Garbine Muguruza 7-68 7-5 in the semifinal of the Australian Open.
Simona Halep’s best result of the present season was getting to the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
Bianca Vanessa Andreescu’s ranking and performance in 2020
Currently the world no.6, Andreescu played her last match on the 30th of October 2019 when she had to retire when playing against Karolina Pliskova in the round robin and the scoreline was 6-3 .
Simona Halep and Bianca Vanessa Andreescu played each other 1 time. The head to head is 1-0 for Halep.
The last time that they competed against each other, Simona Halep won 3-6 7-66 6-3 in the round robin in Shenzhen (WTA Finals) in October 2019.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
Elina Svitolina, Ashleigh Barty, Simona Halep and Bianca Vanessa Andreescu |
| Embed from Getty Images |
