The 2017 WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – held one week before the men’s tournament at the same venue – is nearly twice the size of the men’s event. It has gained Premier 5 status on the WTA tier this season, making it a highly significant February event and a coveted prize in its own right. It’s not really a lead-in to Indian Wells because its own value is considerable. We’re going to see a fairly competitive field at this event, including former No. 1 Angelique Kerber, who seems to have fallen off the map this year. We’ll find out if she can get back on track at the event this week.
The competition in the 56-player main draw begins on Monday, February 20.
Event Details
Event: Dubai Tennis Championships
Category: WTA Premier 5 Level
Date: February 20 – 26, 2017
Location: Aviation Club Tennis Centre (Dubai Tennis Stadium) – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
With a prize money allotment of roughly $2.66 million, the tournament is rightly seen as a big draw for both players and fans. It’s a prestigious title and a springboard into the rest of the winter (and late spring) hardcourt season, crucial for any player who relies on getting most of her rankings points from hardcourt tournaments.
Points
Champion – 900
Runner-up – 585
Semifinal – 350
Quarterfinal – 190
Round of 16 – 105
Round of 32 – 60
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2016: Sara Errani def. Barbora Strycova, 6-0, 6-2
2015: Simona Halep def. Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 7-6
2014: Venus Williams def. Alize Cornet, 6-3, 6-0
2013: Petra Kvitova def. Sara Errani, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1
2012: Agnieszka Radwanska def. Julia Goerges, 7-5, 6-4
Player Info:
It’s a time to begin to be concerned about Angelique Kerber. Another tournament resulted in another loss before the final weekend of play. Kerber fell in the Qatar Open in Doha, losing to Daria Kasatkina. Kerber is just 4-4 on the season – she’s not winning many matches because she’s not playing many matches in the tournaments she enters. She went 3-1 at the Australian Open but has won only one other match on tour this year. She has to find a way to raise her game and block out the negative thoughts circling through her head.
Karolina Pliskova – who as of Friday morning was still alive in the Doha tournament – is the second seed. She is playing very solid tennis and shows signs of being able to back up the strong finish she made to the 2016 season.
Dominika Cibulkova stunned Kerber and everyone else by winning the WTA Finals in Singapore last October. She is seeded third and, though volatile, has to be taken seriously as a threat to win the tournament.
Agnieszka Radwanka is the fourth seed. She has struggled at major tournaments but has been known to play well at secondary events such as this one. This is an opportunity for her to move back into the top five. She is currently sixth in the rankings despite her No. 4 seed.
Garbine Muguruza is No. 7 in the world, seeded fifth in Dubai. Everyone in the tennis community is waiting for this obviously talented player to be consistently great. She has an ideal physical makeup for tennis, with long limbs and the height needed to power down serves. She can cover the court and blast the ball. She has won a major title. She just needs to find the ability to put the pieces together on a regular basis.
The sixth and final top-10 player at this event is Johanna Konta. She reinforced how good she is on hardcourts by making the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Serena Williams stopped her. If Konta is playing anyone outside the top three or four on hardcourts, she has to fancy her chances.
Aviation Club Tennis Centre
The facility comprised of several hard courts with a showpiece center court opened its doors in 1996. The main stadium court holds 5,000 people, and the facility hosts both this WTA event and the following week’s ATP cousin, part of the ATP World Tour 500 Series. Even though the local crowd would like to see someone like Serena Williams participating in this event, they’ll still get to see a great event at this venue in what should be a very competitive tournament all the way through.
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