Women's competition set to roll

Dubai: The Dubai Tennis Stadium will open its doors to the best-ever player line-up when the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships get under way on Monday.

Justine Henin, the defending champion and four-time winner here is the top seed.

But challenging her dominance in Dubai will be Russian pair Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova along with the Serbian pairing of Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

Henin has been a regular in Dubai and has won every time she has come here starting in 2003, except in 2005 when she did not come.

Ivanovic, hugely popular on the tennis circuit due to her nature and poise, was a suspect entry here following an ankle injury scare during last week's Qatar Open.

But organisers Dubai Duty Free were quick to calm down fears that the 20-year-old Serbian may not play in Dubai.

"Ana is here already," Tournament Director Salah Tahlah told Gulf News.

Final verdict

The top seed at the Qatar Open was forced to withdraw due to an ankle ligament strain sustained during her 6-3, 6-1 win against Olga Govortsova.

The 20-year-old Serbian slipped when she was just two points away from victory, rolling over on her ankle, to limp off after the match.

She could not recover in time for her third round match against Agnieszka Radwanska and was forced to pull out.

"Though she is in Dubai for this tournament, a final verdict on her match fitness will be known only today after due consultations with the medical staff," Tahlak added.

The women's competition had initially drawn nine of the top-10 players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. But, eighth ranked Russian Daniela Hantuchova and tenth ranked Serena Williams of the US pulled out of this tournament at the last moment, trimming down the luster of the field a bit.

"But we have quality in the draw, and this is evident from the fact that the cut-off for the main draw is as low as 21," Tahlak noted.

"We have everything else working as per schedule and we are all ready to welcome one of the best tournaments on the WTA Tour," Tahlak added.

The women's tournament is now in its eighth year while it will be the 16th edition for the men's tournament next week.

The annual event is held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Order of play

Centre Court
Starts 2 pm: Maria Kirilenko vs Alona Bondarenko; Selima Sfar vs Dinara Safina; (Starts at 7 pm) Patty Schnyder vs Elena Dementieva; Svetlana Kuznetsova/Amelie Mauresmo vs Sania Mirza/Francesca Schiavone.

Court No.1
Final Round Qualifying Starts at 12.30 pm: Katarina Srebotnik vs Akiko Morigami; Ekaterina Makarova vs Akgul Amanmuradova.

Court No. 2
Final Round Qualifying Starts at 12.30 pm: Anabel Medina Garrigues or Irena Pavlovic vs Monica Niculescu; Aiko Nakamura vs Andreja Klepac.

Court No. 3
Final Round Qualifying Starts at 12.30 pm: Vera Dushevina vs Ai Sugiyama; Agnieszka Radwanska or Eva Hrdinova vs Jie Zheng or Elena Vesnina. (Start at 3 pm) Anabel Medina Garrigues/Virginia Ruano Pascual vs Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama; Zi Yan/Jie Zheng vs Tathiana Garbin/Gabriela Navratilova.