Pavlyuchenkova hoping to prove herself in Dubai

Dubai: Aside from a host of top names, little-known Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is hoping to prove herself a worthy contender at this year’s Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open, which gets under way at the Dubai Tennis Stadium from Monday.

With the qualifiers being worked out over the weekend, the main draw will start with Pavlyuchenkova facing the daunting prospect of playing former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic in the first round, followed by a possible meeting with ex-Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the second.

“It’s definitely a tough draw for me, but then this is what all the players expect anyway,” Pavlyuchenkova told media at the official draw at the Majlis yesterday.

Also attending the draw were Colm McLoughlin, executive vice-chairman of Dubai Duty Free, Salah Tahlak, tournament director, Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, vice-president of Tennis Emirates, Donna Kelso, WTA Tour supervisor and Soeren Friemal, the WTA referee.

“We’ve played each other [against Ivanovic] a couple of times and hopefully I will be ready for her challenge,” Pavlyuchenkova said.

The Russian has been training in Paris for the past couple of weeks with the aim of getting ready for the Dubai tournament, while skipping this week’s Qatar Open into the bargain. “I am feeling good after all the preparations I’ve gone through and hopefully everything should come together when I start here this week,” she said.

This year has attracted possibly one of the best fields in women’s tennis, with 17 of the top 20 in the field and the likes of Frenchwoman and former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli getting a wildcard from the organisers.

“What makes this tournament even more special is the fact that we will have a new world No 1 in Serena Williams,” McLoughlin said. “Her sister Venus has won this tournament a couple of times and perhaps we will have a double act from the Williams sisters.”

Yet another highlight of the Dubai tournament is the presence of all four Grand Slam title holders and the defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, who will be aiming to become only the third player in the tournament’s history to win back-to-back titles here.

Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who was also present at the official draw, was wary of her chances in what should be an extremely tight competition. “I think it’s best to compete against the best players on the tour because that is the only way you can find out how good you really are,” the fourth seed said. “I intend taking things one step at a time.”

Another highlight is set to be the clash of the wildcards, with Al Habtoor Challenge losing finalist Yulia Putintseva taking on Great Britain’s Laura Robson, most probably on Monday evening.

“It’s going to be one of the closest competitions in the history of this tournament,” Tahlak said. “We are all ready to go for yet another year and we hope that as always we will have some great tennis during the next two weeks.”

The qualifying round competition continues through Sunday, with entry to the side courts free. The main event starts with first-round matches at 2pm on Monday.

For further information about tickets, prices and the tournament, visit http://www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com or phone the call centre on

+971 4 4172415.