Dubai: The champion at the Qatar Total Open, if there is one — weather permitting — should be a title-favourite on paper in this week’s Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open.
For one, it’s been constantly fluctuating weather conditions and secondly, near-identical court surfaces. However, what happens on court will be totally different with this week’s WTA Premier event in Dubai wearing an open look as ever.
Wedged between the season-opening Australian Open and the prestigious hardcourt events in Indian Wells and Miami, the two weeks of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships are a gateway to tougher challenges lying ahead.
Categorised as a WTA Premier event, this tournament may not garner the same amount of attention as some other tournaments but for sure, it is far from being an inconsequential stop on the calendar. As in the past, it is in Dubai where players have built or maintained their momentum before the season actually starts getting busy.
The women’s draw features six of the current top-10 players and another seven from the top-20 with Germany’s Angelique Kerber trying to emerge out of her shadows and make a statement of intent for the remainder of the season.
Overtaken by Serena Williams following her success in Melbourne, Kerber will be hungry in Dubai, well knowing that a title or even an appearance in the final here can hand her the top spot in women’s tennis once again. Kerber has been far from her best so far this season coming in to Dubai with a 4-4 win-loss record after her fourth round loss in Melbourne followed by a first round defeat in Doha earlier this week.
Dubai will definitely give the German the opportunity to haul her dreams back on track as she looks to reclaim her winning touch of last year and her position. Then there is Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska, who for all practical reasons can be clubbed together. Both women have spent a major part of their careers ranked inside the top 10 and neither has been able to lay their hands on an elusive Grand Slam crown so far.
Their starts this season have been far from impressive with both bowing out early at the Australian Open — Wozniacki falling in the third round, while Radwanska bowed out in Round Two. But both have won in Dubai — the Dane in 2011 and Radwanska a year later.
Prior to her maiden title, Radwanska enjoyed a lot of success in Dubai. However, the crown did not come easy as the Polish girl comes in with a dismal record of winning just a couple of times in her five appearances here since her 2012 Dubai success. Currently ranked No.6, Radwanska would definitely be keen on amending the figures as a second title in Dubai could vault her into the top-five.
Another serious contender would be Karolina Pliskova following her winning run at the Western & Southern Open title, followed by a final appearance at the US Open.
Since then, the lanky 24-year-old has won the Brisbane Open followed by a quarter-final berth in Melbourne and a pair of wins while leading the Czech Republic to victory in their Fed Cup encounter against Spain.
The second-highest ranked player after Kerber in Dubai, third seed Pliskova can be rightly considered as someone who has the capacity to go all the way. She has made the final at the Qatar Open and her game is well-suited for the hardcourts here to complement her strong form at the moment.
It will also be foolhardy to write off the likes of Garbine Muguruza, Dominika Cibulkova and Elina Svitolina, who are capable of upsetting any of the top players on their day. What remains to be seen is who among them can sustain a sense of consistency.
One has to wait till next Saturday to know who has the last laugh.
