Easy paper encounters for early works

The Dubai Tennis draw puts Anas Jaber on a difficult task with 3 heroines

Tunisian Anas Jaber, ranked 31 in the world.

Photography: Patrick Castillo

The draw for the 21st edition of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for Professional Women, which was drawn yesterday in the Majlis Hall at the Dubai Duty Free Stadium, with prizes of $ 1.8 million, resulted in a difficult task for the only Arab representative in the tournament, Tunisian Anas Jaber, ranked 31 in the world. Where she came in the iron first group, which includes three of the biggest players who have previously won in Dubai, ahead of the first ranked in the championship and fifth in the world, Ukrainian Svitolina, champion (2017-2018), and Czech Petra Kavitova, ranked 10 in the world, and the title holder in 2013, in addition to To 2019 Swiss champion Belinda Bensic, Equivalent 12.

Jaber is inaugurating a meeting with 68-ranked Czech Chinakova, but her mission becomes more difficult when approaching the second round, during which she is expected to clash with Kavitova.

The draw also resulted in easy meetings on paper for world classifiers in the next round, but that may change with the quarter-finals, as Svitolina begins her journey in the second round of the tournament with a meeting with the 35th Chinese seed Kioyang Wang, or the Russian Kuzyntsova, ranked 39, to be followed by a meeting. Possibly with the 16th seed in the tournament and the 25th in the world, the Greek Maria Skari, provided that the latter crosses the hurdle of the Czech Kirishikova, to make matters more difficult with the entry into the quarter-finals, which may see an early final combining Svitolina against Bencic.

In the second group, the task of the Czech second-ranked and sixth-ranked Czech Pleshkova seems more easy to reach the golden square, especially since she will not face during the first rounds any of the top 20 players, with the exception of Belgian Mertens, ranked 18.

The drawing ceremony was attended by Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice President of the Dubai Duty Free Board of Directors, director of the Dubai Duty Free Championships, Salah Perish, WTA representative Donna Kelso, a representative of the players participating in the tournament, and the 2019 Swiss champion Bencic.

“The identification of the three invitation cards was based on the highest classification,” he said in a press statement.

He said: "The invitation cards went to the 36th ranked among the American world, Coco Gove, the Russian Potapova, the 92nd in the world, and the Hungarian Tima Babush, the 105th ranked."

• American Koko Gove, Russian Potapova and Hungarian Babush share invitation cards.

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