Dubai: Top seed Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania will start the defence of her crown at the 18th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge (AHTC) as she takes on Martina Caregaro of Italy in her opening round match possibly on Tuesday.
Champion here last, Dulgheru is presently stuck in Romania as she awaits an immigration clearance to enter the UAE. During the middle of the year, the defending champion ran out of blank pages on her passport and got a temporary one issued in the USA.
Though Romanian citizens are allowed visa on entry, rules also stipulate that the entry permit cannot be stamped on a temporary passport. Her entry has been further delayed as top officials from immigration were busy with the opening of the Dubai Airshow. “Hopefully we wil sort this out by the end of day and Alexandra will play her opening round match as scheduled on Tuesday,” Hani Al Khafief, ITF Supervisor told Gulf News after conducting the main draw with inaugural year singles champion Kyra Nagy and now tournament director.
The past 17 years have seen a different champion each time, and Dulgheru will be the latest player to attempt becoming the only woman to successfully defend her title. “We are looking forward to a very competitive tournament here yet again,” Khalid Al Ali, Public Relations Executive, Al Habtoor Group said in the presence of Faisal Al Bannai, General Manager, Tennis Emirates and Fredrik Reinisch, General Manager, Habtoor Grand Beach Resort and Spa.
“Our patron and chairman Khalaf Al Habtoor has been a pioneer while making this the first-ever professional women’s tennis tournament in the region. We have kept on evolving as an event and this is why our players keep returning each year. By doing all this we are merely keeping with our tournament motto of ‘Bringing to Dubai today the stars of tomorrow’,” Al Ali added.
One of the highlights of this year’s main draw is that all eight qualifiers and wild cards will be playing in the lower half of the draw along with second seed Klara Koukalova, who has been drawn to play one of the four qualifiers.
Third seed Alexandra Panova, a singles quarter-finalist and doubles winner here last year, will be up against Nadiia Kichenok from the Ukraine in her first round match. “This time I am here to win. This tournament always has a high caliber of players and you never know who is out there trying to win. This has been a great tournament and it’s always so nice to come back to Dubai,” Panova said.
