Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber delivered a double blow for the organisers of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as the world’s No.1 and No.2 stars both withdrew from the event that is set to kick off on Monday.
Williams cited illness as her official reason for pulling out while Kerber, the Australian Open champion, blames a right upper thigh injury.
The pair join a long list of withdrawals that have struck the Dubai tournament with Agnieszka Radwanska (left leg), Lucie Safarova (recovering from bacterial infection), Caroline Wozniacki (left knee), Timea Bacsinszky (gastrointestinal illness), Alize Cornet (continuing lower back), Irina Camelia Begu (continuing right knee), Sabine Lisicki (illness) and Peng Shuai (right hand), all a no-show.
This is the second year in a row that Williams has had to withdraw from Dubai. Last season she suffered a viral infection that kept her out while in 2013, she pulled out moments before her opener against Marion Bartoli.
We've been at the @DDFTennis #ddftennis draw in #MyDubai this afternoon - video and full coverage coming-up #tennis pic.twitter.com/zEduqCs4LS
— Sport360° (@Sport360) February 13, 2016
Defending champion Simona Halep gave organisers a reprieve by requesting a wildcard and the world No.3 is now the top seed of what is still a highly-competitive draw.
Halep, who beat Karolina Pliskova in last year’s final, has a bye in the opening round but faces a tricky second round against either ex-world No.1 Ana Ivanovic, or Russian-born Aussie Daria Gavrilova.
No.3 seed Carla Suarez Navarro, a quarter-finalist in Dubai for the last two years, has been drawn in Halep’s half of the draw and is a potential semi-final opponent for the Romanian.
The bottom half sees second-seeded Garbine Muguruza on a collision course with No.4 seed and 2013 champion Petra Kvitova towards the last four.
The @DDFTennis #ddftennis women's @WTA trophy looking resplendent as the official draw is made for the 2016 event pic.twitter.com/F4YTdxtlYB
— Sport360° (@Sport360) February 13, 2016
Muguruza could get tough Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the second round while former runner-up Jelena Jankovic has a daunting opener against No.5 seed Belinda Bencic.
Jankovic trails the Swiss teenager 1-2 in their head-to-head and knows she has a tough one on her hands.
“It’s going to be a difficult first round for me here in Dubai,” Jankovic told Sport360.
“I played against Belinda a few times. She beat me on grass, I beat her on hard courts last year in Indian Wells. I know the way she plays and I think she knows my game very well. I have to focus on my tennis, on my game and try to play as well as I can and we’ll see.”
The 2016 #DDFtennis @WTA Singles Main Draw pic.twitter.com/dPdyeHw9eK
— Dubai Tennis Champs (@DDFTennis) February 13, 2016
In a battle of former Dubai runners-up, Julia Goerges will take on Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round, having previously faced off at the same stage here at the Aviation club in 2012.
“Again,” joked Goerges when told she was going to play Kuznetsova.
“It’s kind of a déjà vu. I think it was in the first round when I played the finals here. It’s going to be a tough match anyway. It doesn’t matter who you’re going to play here, they’re always tough matches.
“It’s kind of exciting. We have a lot of respect for each other. We’ve practiced a lot of times together, mainly every tournament except here right now because I haven’t seen her yet. It’s going to be tough. We play a pretty similar style I think.”