2011 Qatar Ladies Open: Singles Draw
The 2011 Qatar Ladies Open, last held in 2008, has returned to the Women’s Tennis Association [WTA] Tour this season and seems to be all set to produce the best draw that Doha fans have seen in quite some years. The Premier event is considered to be
one of the most prestigious women’s tournaments. This year, the tournament returns to the calendar under the supervision of tournament director and former tennis player Karim Alami, who says, “This is one of the best fields ever assembled in Doha in a regular
WTA event and obviously we are delighted. World number one Wozniacki is obviously the top draw but the fact that seven of the leading 10 are in Doha means we couldn’t have asked for a more auspicious re-launch.”
The singles draw is indeed one of the most prestigious ones seen so far this year, filled with star-studded tennis pros seeking victory at the US$721,000 event. The 2011 QTF draw consists of 28 players in the direct entry draw, as well as 32 singles
qualifiers and 16 doubles players. Considering that the lowest-ranked player in the direct entry is World Number 37 Anastasija Sevastova, it is only fair to assume that this tournament will indeed be a spectacular one.
The first seed at the event is World Number 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who suffered a brief dethroning at the hands of Kim Clijsters last week. However, the top seed seems to have recovered from the disappointment of a bad run at the Australian Open, a
fact made more obvious by her spectacular win at last week’s Dubai Open. She is the favourite to win the title in Doha. The second seed is 2010 US Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva, who has the benefit of a great history at Doha. In 2008, she reached the event’s
final before being ousted by former World Number 1 Maria Sharapova. Besides her track record, she also has strong motivation to win after suffering defeats in both Thailand and Dubai. The third seed is Francesca Schiavone, who will compete in the same slot
as she did in last week’s Dubai Open. Australian Open finalist and fourth seed Li Na will also take part in the tournament.
The fifth seed is Serbian pro Jelena Jankovic, who managed to reach the semi-finals at Dubai earlier this week. The seventh seed is Victoria Azarenka, who will be making her first WTA Tour appearance at Doha. The seedings conclude with Agnieszka Radwanska
and Shahar Peer, both of whom managed to reach the Dubai quarterfinals. In addition to the seeded dangers, other threatening players included unseeded Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, as well as pros Flavia Pennetta and Kaia Kanepi. The tournament
is expected to be one of the most exciting, suspenseful events of the year so far.
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