Dubai: The stage is set for the 17th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge, which opens at the Habtoor Grand Beach Resort and Spa here on Saturday.
The event is a $75,000 (Dh275,000) tournament on the ITF Women’s Circuit. Jana Cepelova won the singles tournament last year and the 21-year-old from Slovakia is this year’s top seed.
Belgium’s Alison van Uytvanck is seeded second, Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany third and Tereza Smitkova fourth.
“We have everything going for the start of yet another tournament. The courts have been resurfaced and, as always, players have been enjoying the relaxing atmosphere at the beach resort,” former champion and now tournament director Keira Nagy told Gulf News.
“We have been lucky to have such a strong field this year too. We have six of the top-100 and the cut-off for players is No. 153. That shows how strong this competition has grown in a matter of few years.”
Hani Al Khafief, ITF supervisor, said: “Once again we will have the stars of tomorrow playing in Dubai. Some of the champions here have gone on to be number one players on the WTA and this is a great achievement for us as organisers.”
Like the main draw, the qualifying round is also for 32 players, six of them wild cards. There will be four wild card entrants in the main draw, while another four will join them after the three days of qualifying.
As many as 72 of the current top-100 players have participated in the event at some point during its 16-year history.
The annual tournament is the brainchild of Khalaf Al Habtoor, chairman of the Al Habtoor Group of Companies. It is held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, with support from Tennis Emirates.
The main draw will begin on November 10, with both the singles and doubles finals scheduled for November 15. The first round of qualifying matches will get underway at 11am Saturday.
