Talk About Tennis 2.0

Tournament: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dates: February 16 - February 22, 2025
Level: WTA 1000
Total Financial Commitment: $3,654,963
Surface: Hard

Seed Name Entry Ranking

1 Aryna Sabalenka 1
2 Iga Swiatek 2
3 Coco Gauff 3
4 Jasmine Paolini 4
5 Qinwen Zheng 5
6 Jessica Pegula 6
7 Elena Rybakina 7
8 Emma Navarro 8
9 Barbora Krejcikova 9
10 Daria Kasatkina 10
11 Danielle Collins 11
12 Paula Badosa 12
13 Diana Shnaider 13
14 Madison Keys 14
15 Mirra Andreeva 15
16 Anna Kalinskaya 16
Beatriz Haddad Maia 17
Marta Kostyuk 18
Donna Vekic 19
Karolina Muchova 20
Liudmila Samsonova 21
Jelena Ostapenko 22
Yulia Putintseva 23
Victoria Azarenka 24
Katie Boulter 25
Magdalena Frech 26
Elina Svitolina 27
Linda Noskova 28
Leylah Fernandez 29
Maria Sakkari 30
Ekaterina Alexandrova 31
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 32
Dayana Yastremska 33
Elise Mertens 34
Amanda Anisimova 35
Anastasia Potapova 36
Xinyu Wang 37
Marketa Vondrousova 38
Ons Jabeur 39
Magda Linette 40
Elina Avanesyan 41
Belinda Bencic 15 (SR)
Sorana Cirstea 37 (SR)

Qualifying Draw

A. Krueger (1) vs J. Niemeier
A. Ito vs T. Townsend (15)

Y. Yuan (2) vs C. Bucsa
L. Baroudi vs I. Begu (14)

V. Kudermetova (3) vs C. Paquet
C. Simunyu vs R. Zarazua (11)

K. Siniakova (4) vs K. Mladenovic
E. Ruse vs J. Cristian (16)

L. Bronzetti (5) vs S. Zhang
D. Saville vs S. Lamens (10)

P. Kudermetova (6) vs A. Parks
Y. Bonaventure vs B. Pera (13)

A. Li (7) vs E. Lys
D. Semenistaja vs K. Rakhimova (12)

V. Tomova (8) vs A. Zakharova
A. Rus vs M. Uchijima (9)

from last year's experience, the court is significantly faster than Doha.. which is probably why Paolini won here last year..
we should not expect Doha results to be replicated here.

Another week, yet another Raducanu wildcard

Raducanu takes Dubai wildcard amid losing run

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/articles/c4g916r48p7o

Honestly, I'd be playing in WTA 125 events right now, just to get some match rhythm and confidence back.

Oploskoffie wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 10:10 am Another week, yet another Raducanu wildcard

Raducanu takes Dubai wildcard amid losing run

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/articles/c4g916r48p7o

Honestly, I'd be playing in WTA 125 events right now, just to get some match rhythm and confidence back.

Well, it is not for us to say but ...it could cut both ways..there are tough players even in 125 events..if she loses there, that will not help her confidence ...

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 1:05 pm Well, it is not for us to say but ...it could cut both ways..there are tough players even in 125 events..if she loses there, that will not help her confidence ...

Oh, definitely tough players at the somewhat lower levels, but I'd still prefer her odds at one of those tournaments. With her current ranking she'd probably be seeded as well, which then reverses the issue she's currently facing, namely getting drawn against (much) higher ranked opponents. And if she'd end up losing early at smaller tournaments as well then perhaps that only underlines certain things she needs to work on outside of the physical. There's obviously plenty of opinions going round about what Emma should and should not do, but from my sofa-perspective at the very least, her own approach is not exactly... working.

Oploskoffie wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 10:10 am Another week, yet another Raducanu wildcard

Raducanu takes Dubai wildcard amid losing run

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/articles/c4g916r48p7o

Honestly, I'd be playing in WTA 125 events right now, just to get some match rhythm and confidence back.

She'd be a much bigger draw at those than where's she's been wilded in.

If I'm in qualifying, I'm looking at Raducanu's 13 wildcards with my hands on my hips and my head tilted.

Owendonovan wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 6:30 pm If I'm in qualifying, I'm looking at Raducanu's 13 wildcards with my hands on my hips and my head tilted.

Depends whether you have a grand slam trophy

No Osaka yet, I see..

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 6:39 am from last year's experience, the court is significantly faster than Doha.. which is probably why Paolini won here last year..
we should not expect Doha results to be replicated here.

Who will not do so well..Anisimova, Ostapenko, Samsonova, Pavlyuchenkova
Who will do well- Bencic, Raducanu, Leylah, Alexandrova, Vekic, pegula, Paolini - in addition to the usual Swiatek and Sabalenka. Gauff should do well in these conditions but it is so hard to tell with her..

Main Draw Singles

1 SABALENKA, Aryna/Bye
ALEXANDROVA, Ekaterina vs Q KUDERMETOVA, Veronika
SRAMKOVA, Rebecca SVK vs TAUSON, Clara DEN
SVITOLINA, Elina UKR vs 15 KALINSKAYA, Anna

11 SHNAIDER, Diana vs FRECH, Magdalena POL
NOSKOVA, Linda CZE vs PUTINTSEVA, Yulia KAZ
SAMSONOVA, Liudmila vs PAVLYUCHENKOVA, Anastasia
Bye/5 PEGULA, Jessica USA

3 GAUFF, Coco USA/Bye
KESSLER, McCartney USA vs ANISIMOVA, Amanda USA
SAKKARI, Maria GRE vs WC RADUCANU, Emma GBR
Q LAMENS, Suzan NED vs 14 MUCHOVA, Karolina CZE

10 KASATKINA, Daria vs WC CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU
Q PARKS, Alycia USA vs WANG, Xinyu CHN
BENCIC, Belinda SUI vs Q ITO, Aoi JPN
Bye/8 NAVARRO, Emma USA


6 RYBAKINA, Elena KAZ/Bye
Q UCHIJIMA, Moyuka JPN vs OSTAPENKO, Jelena LAT
MERTENS, Elise BEL vs FERNANDEZ, Leylah CAN
SUN, Lulu NZL vs 9 BADOSA, Paula ESP

16 VEKIC, Donna CRO vs WC KENIN, Sofia USA
Q SINIAKOVA, Katerina CZE vs KOSTYUK, Marta UKR
Q LYS, Eva GER vs Q BEGU, Irina-Camelia ROU
Bye/4 PAOLINI, Jasmine ITA

7 ZHENG, Qinwen CHN/Bye
JABEUR, Ons TUN vs STEARNS, Peyton USA
VONDROUSOVA, Marketa CZE vs WC GARCIA, Caroline FRA
AVANESYAN, Elina ARM vs 12 ANDREEVA, Mirra

13 HADDAD MAIA, Beatriz BRA vs POTAPOVA, Anastasia
LINETTE, Magda POL vs YASTREMSKA, Dayana UKR
AZARENKA, Victoria vs KALININA, Anhelina UKR
Bye/2 SWIATEK, Iga POL

I just wanted to mention that I redid the post of the MD Singles because for some reason the landing page for the tournament draw didn't show Qualifiers or WC's but the downloadable version did. Go figure.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2025 11:06 am

Owendonovan wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 6:30 pm If I'm in qualifying, I'm looking at Raducanu's 13 wildcards with my hands on my hips and my head tilted.

Depends whether you have a grand slam trophy

That's her only title and it's 4 years old. I think the courtesy cards should stop.

Wild cards are not awarded to promote truth, justice and the American way! They are awarded to boost interest and revenue for the tournament. Which Raducanu does.