Defending Champion Justine Henin Leads Stellar Dubai Draw

Image courtesy of Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships

Seven women in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s Top 10 have headed to Dubai for this week’s Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

Leading the stellar field is two-time defending champion and world No. 1 Justine Henin.

The desert and sunshine in Dubai bring out the best in Henin, who has won four of the last five singles finals.

Last year Henin completed the Gulf double, taking the trophy at Dubai and the preceding week’s Qatar Total Open.

The other seven seeds are Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, Anna Chakvetadze, Marion Bartoli, and Elena Dementieva.

The entry list is so packed with big names that only one player outside the Top 20 can be guaranteed direct entry to the event, with anyone ranked below 21 having to play the qualifying rounds or rely on a wild card.

“The player cut-off of 21 for women and 36 for men underlines the tremendous growth, popularity and competitiveness of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, which is now amongst the top tennis events in the world,” said Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free.

“The tournament is a firm favourite with players and attracts the biggest names and stars in the world of tennis.”

As well as such established names, several rising stars are in the lineup, including Dinara Safina, Agnes Szavay and recent Australian Open doubles champion Alona Bondarenko. Last year’s Australian Open champion Serena Williams has withdrawn from the tournament.

You can view the complete singles and doubles main draw at the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour website.

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