Belinda Bencic of Switzerland celebrates with the trophy after winning the women's singles title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship in Dubai last year. (Getty Images)
The Dubai Duty Free women’s tennis championships 2020 will kick off on Monday. The mega WTA tournament is celebrating its 20th anniversary this season after having first started in 2001.
The main draw runs from February 17 to February 22, with the semi-finals starting from Friday. This year’s women’s tournament will feature an array of top female tennis players from around the globe.
The matches will be held at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, formerly known as The Aviation Club, in Garhoud. The venue has hosted the Championship since its inauguration in 1993.
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, or more popularly known as the Dubai Open is a tournament that is held annually in Dubai, Unites Arab Emirates (UAE), on outdoor hard courts.
The tournament is conducted under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The Dubai Tennis Championships is the third tournament in pro tennis history to award equal prize money for both men and women. At present, the premier tournament offers prize money of US $2.9million.
Dubai Tennis Championships 2020 will set the stage on fire with as many as six of the top-10 ranked woman players set to tee off against each other.
One of the top names to play is reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, however, it would be somebody else who would be the centre of attraction this time at the tournament. Everyone’s eyes will be upon former World No.1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters, who is making a return to court after a seven-year absence.
A mother of three, 36-year-old Clijsters, however, faces a stern test in her comeback in the form of sixth seed Kiki Bertens of Netherlands. Meanwhile, other prominent names include 2-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep of Romania, who recently returned to No.1 spot in WTA rankings and defending champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
Meanwhile, 2-time Dubai Open champion and last month’s Australian Open runner-up Garbine Muguruza has been offered a wild card. Including all these top names the singles category will feature 32-player draw and is sure to offer moments of exciting tennis drama.
Former World No.1 and 7-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin has won the maximum titles here – a record 4 times (2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007). Other top winners include Venus Williams (2009, 2010) and Elina Svitolina (2017, 2018), who both have emerged champions twice respectively.
Current World No.5 Bencic, on the other hand, is the reigning champion after she overcame 2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová of Czech Republic.
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