Dubai: If one was to draw up a top-ten list in women’s tennis, then the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, may well be the only two who are still active on the WTA Tour.
Among the ten – the choices debatable of course – would figure the likes of Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Monica Seles Justine Henin and Martina Hingis. And the Williams are just about the only ones really who are still enduring the rigours of the tour for nearly two decades.
Sadly at Saturday’s official draw ceremony, WTA Supervisor Donna Kelso made an announcement that silenced the gathering assembled at the Majlis of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
“Serena will not be coming to Dubai as she still needs time to recover from her continued illness following the Australian Open,” Kelso announced.
And that was not the end as the WTA official further informed that Canadian sensation Eugenie Bouchard – given a wild card entry in the main draw only a day before – was also not making the trip to Dubai from Antwerp in order to give her injured arm additional rest.
While the absence of Serena puts Venus sharply into focus for a successful defence of the title she won for the third time last year, no one can discount the tremendous list of achievements shared, though not equally, by the two sisters.
For a start, the duo has 111 titles and nearly $97 million (Dh356 million) in prize-money earnings between them so far. Though younger, Serena accounts for more than two-thirds of the amount – making her the only female player to have won over $60 million in prize money along with the tag of being regarded by many as the greatest female tennis player in history.
But it was older sister Venus who had set the ball rolling. After four appearances in Dubai, the best that Serena has managed is three semi-final appearances, while Venus already possesses three trophies from Dubai with an eye on a fourth next Saturday. Though it would be a normal thing to go in with a certain amount of pressure for the defence of a title, Venus feels nothing like this.
“Anything is a challenge and that is what makes it more exciting for me. It is so nice to return and try and return the trophy I won last year. It would be nice to win here again and add to the trophies I have. Seriously I think I have a good chance and I feel no pressure at all,” Venus told media.
“The idea is to take it one match at a time and we shall see how things go. For the time-being the title is mine and the trophy is with me. No one can take that away from me and I am enjoying the moment,” she added.
Serena may not be here, and spectators may miss the presence of Bouchard, but all the same be prepared for a truly entertaining two weeks of tennis with the women’s competition lining up eight of the world’s top ten players that features the likes of French Open and WTA Finals runner-up Simona Halep – the top seed in Dubai - Wimbledon winner and past Dubai champions Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska, Ana Ivanovic and Angelique Kerber, among others.
