2010 Dubai Women’s Open Draw offers exciting encounters

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Saturday, February 13, 2010
Kuznetsova and Petrova set for potential all-Russian third round clash
Dubai, UAE, February 13th, 2010: The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships WTA Women's Open will kick into gear tomorrow with some intriguing match-ups on the cards over the coming week.

The tournament draw took place today with the official ceremony attended by Colm McLoughlin (Managing Director of owners and organisers of the tournament, Dubai Duty Free), Salah Tahlak (Tournament Director), Vinit Chandra (Head of Emerging Markets, Barclays), Abdul Rahman Falaknaz (Vice President, Tennis Emirates), Donna Kelso (Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Supervisor) and World number eight (and now Dubai resident) Jelena Jankovic.

"This is a very special year for the ladies championships as it is our 10th anniversary - a fantastic achievement," said McLoughlin. "With so many of the world's top players in Dubai, we are looking forward to a fantastic week of spectacular tennis ahead," he added.

There is certainly plenty to look forward to with some scintillating clashes set for the coming days. Defending champion Venus Williams will have a bye in the first round and will take on the winner of the match between Germany's Sabine Lisicki and a qualifier in the second.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark also received a bye for the first round and will take on either Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan or Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia when she steps on court for the second round.

Also of particular interest is the fact that second seed and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and Australian Open quarterfinalist Nadia Petrova are set for an all-Russian third round clash, if everything goes according to plan for them in the initial rounds. Kuznetsova will first have to get the better of crowd favourite Sania Mirza, however - should she progress from her first round match against Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain.

Meanwhile, another Russian, Olympic champion Elena Dementieva and Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova are likely to meet in the second round - Dementieva being handed a bye in the first round and Hantuchova taking on a qualifier.

Dubai's latest star resident, sixth seed Jelena Jankovic had been handed a bye in the first round and will then face the winner of the match between Sybille Bammer and Aravane Rezai, in round two.

"I had some great matches in the Fed Cup against Russia recently and played some very good tennis so I'm really looking forward to the tournament here. I'm going to try my best and hopefully have a good run," said Jankovic who was present at the draw today.

"I'm very happy to be back in Dubai. I love Dubai and the people here," she added.

Play at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, which is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, begins on Sunday, February 14th, 2010 with the WTA Tour event and continues with the ATP tournament from Monday, February 22nd - 27th.
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