Dubai Tennis Championships 2022: Women's draw, schedule, players, prize money, order of play & more
The 22nd edition of the Dubai Tennis Championships will be held from February 14-19. The WTA 500 event is the only women's tournament happening this week.
With seven of the current top 10 players competing in the tournament, along with former Grand Slam champions Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka and Jelena Ostapenko, it's a loaded field. The only top-10 players missing from the draw are Ashleigh Barty, Karolina Pliskova and Maria Sakkari.
Here are all the details you need to know about the Dubai Tennis Championships:
What is the Dubai Tennis Championships?
Held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Dubai Tennis Championships is one of the few events that takes place in the Middle East. Along with the Qatar Open, the tournament has alternated between WTA 1000 and WTA 500 status every year since 2016. This year, Dubai is a WTA 500 event.
Justine Henin remains the most successful player in the tournament's history with four titles. Venus Williams is next with three, with Elina Svitolina and Simona Halep tied for third place with two.
Two-time Grand Slam champion and former World No. 1 Garbine Muguruza is the defending champion.
Venue
The tournament will be played at the Aviation Club Tennis Center in Dubai.
Players
World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka is the top seed in Dubai. After starting the year with early-round losses at the Adelaide International 1 and 2, she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open.
WTA500 Dubai main singles draw https://t.co/sFAFQTILfz
2021 finalist Barbora Krejcikova is seeded second and given her consistency over the past year, she seems primed for another deep run. Third seed Paula Badosa has already won a title this year in Sydney and will be eager to get her hands on another trophy.
Defending champion and fourth seed Garbine Muguruza has been handed a reprieve at the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships. Earlier, she was set to compete against 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins but there was a change in the draw after Sakkari pulled out of the event at the last minute.
Considering the Spaniard's form this year, her title defense may have been in jeopardy. Now, she'll start against a qualifier or lucky loser.
There will be no Muguruza v Collins in the @DDFTennis first round.
With Sakkari's withdrawal from Dubai (due to change of schedule), Collins moves to line 25 and will face a qualifier/lucky loser in R1.
Muguruza also gets a qualifier/lucky loser in R1.
The other seeded players are Iga Swiatek, Anett Kontaveit, Ons Jabeur and Danielle Collins. Also in the fray are Grand Slam champions Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, Sofia Kenin and Jelena Ostapenko.
Schedule
The tournament kicks off with women's first-round matches, which will be played on February 14 and 15 (Monday and Tuesday). Notable opening-round matches include:
Sofia Kenin vs Jelena Ostapenko,
Iga Swiatek vs Daria Kasatkina,
Petra Kvitova vs Camila Giorgi and
Coco Gauff vs Jessica Pegula.
The complete schedule of the tournament is as follows (subject to change):
The schedule can be found here.
The daily order of play can be found here.
Prize Money
The total prize money for this edition of the Dubai Tennis Championships is $703,580.
Where to watch
Viewers in the following countries can watch all the action on the following channels and sites:
USA: Tennis Channel
UK: Amazon Prime Video
For more information regarding the broadcast of the matches, click here.