FROM LEF: Tennis players Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman, Nadia Petrova of Russia and Tamira Paszek of Austria during the draw ceremony of Qatar Total Open 2013 at Ritz Carlton hotel yesterday.PICTURE: SHAIVAL DALAL
DOHA: A star-studded field featuring 17 of the top 18 players in the world has landed in Doha for this week’s $2,369,000 Qatar Total Open, currently in its 13th consecutive year on the calendar.
The Qatari capital’s ultra-modern Khalifa International Tennis Complex has hosted the prestigious tournament since the turn of the millennium all the way back in 2001.
And that’s not all - it was the venue for the season-ending WTA Championships for three years from 2008 to 2010, as well.
The world’s top 4 - Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska - are the top 4 seeds, and they’ll all have some tough tests en route to their projected semi-final spots.
Azarenka is fresh off defending her Australian Open title in Melbourne and now she’ll try to defend her Doha title.
After a first round bye, the No.1-seeded Belarusian will open against either Tsvetana Pironkova or Romina Oprandi, with a projected third round encounter against a player who has given her a lot of trouble in the past, No.14 seed Dominika Cibulkova.
No.6 seed Sara Errani looms in the quarter-finals.
After suffering through a few separate injuries during the fortnight, Williams’ Australian Open run came to an end in the quarterfinals; she still comes into Doha on some very strong momentum however, winning 56 of her last 59 matches and already winning a Premier-level title this year in Brisbane.
Seeded No.3, Sharapova opens against Anabel Medina Garrigues or a qualifier, with No.15 seed Roberta Vinci her projected third round opponent and No.7 seed Petra Kvitova potentially awaiting in the quarter-finals.
The No.3-seeded Sharapova’s path to the semis is scheduled to go through No.16 seed Sloane Stephens in the third round and No.8 seed Sam Stosur or No.9 seed Marion Bartoli in the quarters.
The No.4-seeded Radwanska’s path includes No.13 seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round and either No.5 seed Angelique Kerber or No.10 seed Caroline Wozniacki in the quarters, though there’s a big unseeded threat looming in her quarter as well - Mona Barthel, potentially Kerber’s second-round opponent, is fresh off her first Premier title and held match point against Radwanska the last time they played.
The only player in the top 18 not playing in Doha is world No.5 China’s Li Na, who had to withdraw from the event due to a left ankle injury originally suffered in the Australian Open final against Azarenka.
And the No.1 ranking could also change hands in Doha.
Doha isn’t the only city hosting WTA tennis this week.
Halfway across the world in Cali, Colombia, an inaugural WTA 125K Series event - the Copa Bionaire - takes place on the clay courts of the Club Campestre de Cali, a modern and spacious country club whose history dates all the way back to 1930.
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