Dubai Tennis draw: Kerber fired up for Serena

11:04 04/12/2013
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  • World number six Angelique Kerber has world number one Serena Williams in her sights ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Championships this week, although she is aware it would take mammoth task to dethrone the queen of tennis.

    Williams will become the oldest player to hold the top spot in women’s tennis next week when the new rankings are released, displacing Victoria Azarenka, after beating Petra Kvitova in Friday’s Qatar Open quarter-final.

    After a stunning 2012 that saw German star Kerber move up to fifth in the world, the Kiel native is hoping to get a chance to take on Williams and go after her number one spot. Williams and Kerber are on opposite sides of the draw so they could only meet in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

    “We all try to do the same as her, it’s great for her (to be number one) but we want to beat her,” said Kerber. “We will see (if I can overcome Serena), Serena is the new oldest number one and she really played very good tennis so she deserves to be number one.”

    Kerber was speaking at the draw for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships that saw Britain’s Laura Robson, France’s Marion Bartoli and 18-year-old Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan named as wildcards.

    With the likes of Williams, Kerber and Azarenka in the field for this week’s tournament, organiser Salah Talek was moved to say that the field was the strongest lineup the tournament has hosted.

    And with the news of Williams’ promotion to number one, the event should generate more excitement than ever.

    “This is the strongest ever, to have nine out of the top 10,” Talek told Sport360. “(Williams’ rankings news) is great timing and it’s going to create a lot of excitement during the week and especially since Serena has been away for the last three years, there will be more enthusiasm.

    “There’s going to be a lot of tough matches, most matches are about 45 minutes to an hour but now we’re talking about one and half hours, maybe two. I think there’s going to be a lot of good matches technically because the players are better.”

    Click here to see the full draw for the women's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship draw

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