Dubai: World No 1 Serena Williams will be looking to go all the way at next month’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, having failed to get beyond the semi-finals in her four appearances here.
Despite winning an astonishing 18 Grand Slam singles titles, the 33 year old has yet to impress on UAE soil, having lost three semi-finals in 2005, 2009 and 2014 and withdrawing in 2013.
Her sister Venus, meanwhile, returns as the defending champion, having taken her third Dubai title last year, when she became the first wild card and first unseeded player in the history of the women’s tournament to win the title.
And Venus started 2015 on a high, taking her 46th career title with victory at the Auckland Classic, defeating Caroline Wozniacki 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
But both sisters will have their work cut out when the annual event takes place at the Dubai Tennis Stadium from February 15 to 21, with eight of the top 10 and 17 of the top 20 women in the world all competing for the title.
The number of players in the draw has also doubled, with 41 players from the world’s top 55 now gaining direct entry into the competition. Five wild cards and eight others will join the elite group in the main draw after qualifying.
“The fact that Serena Williams has not yet been able to add the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships trophy to her remarkable and lengthy list of achievements is proof of the strength of competition here,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice-Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, the tournament owners and organisers.
‘Strong challenge’
“With nearly every top player in the world regularly making the event one of their essential stops on tour, few tournaments offer such a strong challenge and are as difficult to win.”
Simona Halep is among those who could deny Serena, having beaten her in the round robin stages of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals in Singapore last season.
Anxious to make up for an early exit in Dubai last year, when she had to retire from her opening match through injury, Halep is a leading contender for the title and showed her form by winning a ninth career title this month at the Shenzhen Open.
Petra Kvitova, who won in Dubai in 2013, also has reason to make up for her a disappointing display here last year, after falling to Carla Suarez Navarro in her opening game, before going on to claim her second Wimbledon.
Like Kvitova, Agnieszka Radwanska knows what it takes to win in Dubai, and after yet another good season last year, the 2012 champion will arrive full of confidence.
Another fierce competitor who will be anxious to regain her title is Wozniacki, who won here in 2011 and last season demonstrated she can still compete at the highest level by reaching the final of the US Open.
Ana Ivanovic also has a statement to make after failing to advance beyond the second round in her last two Dubai visits. The former French Open champion and world No 1 otherwise had a strong 2014 that earned her four titles and more wins than any other player on the WTA Tour.
Tickets for the event are available from the box office at the Dubai Tennis Stadium, Garhoud, which opens from 9am to 9pm daily. Grandstand tickets can also be bought online at www.timeouttickets.com. For more information about tickets, prices and the tournament visit www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com.
