Serena and Kerber pull out of Dubai Tennis Chionships

Date

2/14/2016 2:09:31 PM

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

The 24th edition of the hugely popular Dubai Tennis Championships suffered a double blow on Saturday when world number one Serena Williams and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber announced their decision to pull out of the tournament.

"Serena is not well. We have heard from the WTA that she has decided to skip the event. I am obviously disappointed but mind you we still have four of the top 10 women's players in the competition here. So we are quite happy with the field. But yes we are disappointed with the players who had to withdraw due to various reasons" Colm McLoughlin Executive Vice Chairman of the tournament sponsor Dubai Duty Free told us after the draw ceremony for the WTA event at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Saturday.

It's indeed a massive setback for the Dubai tennis aficionadas who would have loved to witness a rematch between Serena and Kerbar after their epic battle in the Australian Open final last month when the German denied the American the chance to equal her compatriot Steffi Graff's all-time Grand Slam record of 22 titles.

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Posted by KT Sports onSaturday February 13 2016 "We are disappointed that Serena will be unable to try and add the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to her long list of achievements and that Angelique Kerber is also injured. Caroline Wozniacki is a popular player here and a global Ambassador for Dubai Duty Free and has also had to withdraw" said tournament director Salah Tahlak.

"However we still have ten of the top 20 players in the world including two of the top five and competition for the title will be as strong as ever. We are guaranteed some very exciting contests and outstanding entertainment throughout the week."

Of course the quality of players in the first week of the event in Dubai is still quite impressive with top seed and world number three Simona Halep leading the field.

The Romanian has been given a first round bye but she might face former world number one Ana Ivanovic in the second.

Garbie Muguruza arguably the most talented young player in the women's game right now will enjoy the luck of the draw here. The second seed from Spain has not only got a first round bye she will play a qualifier in the second round.

Jelena Jankovic former world number one and 2008 French Open runner-up wasn't so lucky though. The Serbian will face emerging Swiss star Belinda Bencic in the first round.

2012 Dubai runner-up Julia Goerges of Germany faces a massive test against two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round.

Goerges looked upbeat when Khaleej Times spoke to her after the draw ceremony.

"I always have great expectations in Dubai because I was the runner up here in 2012. But it's a tough draw for me. It's a very tough first match against Svetlana. Let's see if I can win this one" Goerges said.

Last year's runner-up Karolina Pliskova was also brimming with confidence when Khaleej Times spoke to her.

"I played the final last year. So it's going to be tough as I am defending lot of points. But I am ready for the first round. My first round opponent (CoCo) Vandeweghe is a very good player but I believe I can win that match" the world number 13 from the Czech Republic said.

Third seeded Spaniard Carla Surez-Navarro has also got a first round bye and she will take on either Caroline Garcia or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the next round.

Two-time Wimbledon champion and fourth seed Petra Kvitova will start her Dubai campaign against the winner of the first round match between Ekaterina Makarova and Madison Brengle.

"The draw has produced the prospect of some very interesting matches both in the early rounds and later in the week" said McLoughlin. "There is the possibility of our defending champion Simona Halep facing a star of the future in Belinda Bencic or the experienced campaigner Carla Suarez Navarro in one semifinal and Wimbledon finalist Garbie Muguruza facing two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the other. It will be a very interesting week indeed."

The women's event will get under way on Monday (February 15) and the men will take the centre-stage on February 22.

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