The likes of Serena Williams Angelique Kerber Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki may have pulled out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis championships but there will no dearth of world class talent at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.

The WTA event of the championships begin on Monday and veteran Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro knows the Dubai challenges too well.

"Yes several top players have pulled out of this competition. But the draw is really tough. There are still many top players here. You have to be focused on your game in every single match" the world number 16 told reporters at the pre-match Press conference on Sunday.

Of course 10 of the top 20 players in the world will be vying for the coveted trophy in Dubai with defending champion and world number three Simona Halep expected to be the leading contender.

The fact that the Romanian could face 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic in the second round tells you how good the field is in a tournament that is celebrating its 24th year.

"Every tournament is tough at this level and everyone can win it" the 2014 French Open runner up said when asked if she felt the pressure of being the top seed here after the withdrawals of world number one Serena and Australian Open champion and world number two Kerber.

Spanish sensation Garbine Muguruza doesn't believe the absence of the top two players in the world will open the door for others in Dubai.

"You know what not really. Sometimes when you play the first rounds and not the top players people think you have to win but actually that's the day you lose" the world number five said on Sunday.

"So for sure in the draw it changes the seeding and everything (when top players withdraw) but I think every match is very tough since the beginning until the final."

The 2015 Wimbledon runner up says she is fine with the attention she will get in Dubai as the number two seed in the tournament.

"Well I think it is a lot of things to deal with sometimes but I will not change this position. I think it is a great place to be. to be up to play good to be seeded.

"So even though sometimes you feel more pressure you have more expectations not only me but also a lot of people it's just something that you have to deal with. When you go up it's getting worse but I think it is just part of the job."

Petra Kvitova the 2013 Dubai champion is happy to have received a wild card for this year's event.

"I have only played four matches this season which is not much unfortunately. But that is why I wanted to play here as a wildcard so I'm very pleased they gave me this opportunity" the two-time Wimbledon champion said.

"I am happy to be here. I can't say I am fully confident right now but it's nice that I can play some more matches and I will do my best to go as far in the tournament as I can."

The biggest attraction on the first day of the event will be the first round match between 2012 Dubai runner-up Julia Goerges of France and two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.

Last year's runner up Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic will take on American CoCo Vandeweghe in another first round clash on Monday evening.

Today's Order of Play

Centre Court

2:00 pm

Madison Brengle (USA) VS Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)

Camila Giorgi (ITA) VS Andrea Petkovic (GER)

Not Before 7:00 pm

Julia Goerges (GER) VS Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)

Karolina Pliskova (CZE) VS CoCo Vandeweghe (USA)

Court 1

12pm

Varvara Lepchenko (USA) VS Saisai Zheng (CHN)

Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) VS Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) VS Caroline Garcia (FRA)

Court 2

12:30 pm

Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) VS Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)

Court 3

12:30 pm

Denisa Allertova (CZE) VS Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) VS Jana Cepelova (SVK)

Yi-Fan Xu (CHN)/Saisai Zheng (CHN) VS Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA)/Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)