The 2021 WTA season is expected to begin with the WTA Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Tournament, a WTA 500 event in the United Arab Emirates. Here are the things to keep in mind as the journey progresses.
1. The competition starts on Wednesday and ends on Wednesday.
It is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, January 5th, with the main play set to begin on the WTA 2021 season on Wednesday, January 6th. The final two singles and doubles finals will be played on Wednesday, January 13th.
2. Four of the top 10 players will lead the field in the first event of the 2021 season.
Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, No.5 Elina Svitolina, No.6 Karolina Pliskova, and No.10 Aryna Sabalenka are at the top of this WTA 500 event.
3. Re-release of the Australia 2020 final rounds in the quarter-finals.
Kenin with top seed and two-time main champion Garbiñe Muguruza are anchored in the top quarter of the draw and could meet in the quarterfinals. Less than 12 months ago, Kenin gathered in the third set to surrender to victory in its main final round, beating Muguruza 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to win the Australian Open. win. Kenin leads the head-to-head 2-0.
LEARN: Kenin’s main seed for opening week as the Abu Dhabi draw is revealed
The 2020 WTA Player of the Year opens her season against a first – round inning and could face No.13 seed Yulia Putintseva in the Round of 16.
Muguruza will begin her 2021 campaign against Kristina Mladenovic. The first seed she may have is No.9 Maria Sakkari. The 16-year-old Coco Gauff could face Greek star in the second round.
4. Streaking Sabalenka aims to build where she left off.
The World No.10 finished the 2020 season on a nine-game winning streak, winning back-to-back titles in Ostrava (d. Azarenka in the final) and Linz (d. Mertens in the final) and finishing in the 10th highest for the first time the young career. The 22-year-old has found good success in the first week of the season, having captured the title in Shenzhen in 2019.
Seed No.4 was pulled into the tight upper half of the draw. She will open against Polona Hercog of Slovenia, the first meeting between the two since 2018, and she could face No.15 Ons Jabeur seed in the Round of 16. Elena Rybakina, who led the tour with six finals in 2020, also weeping in Sabalenka’s quarterback.
5. Pliskova is looking to get into her Week 1 success.
The great Czechs have joined new coach Sascha Bajin in the off-season and will be looking to repeat their historic success Week 1. Pliskova has won a title in the first week of the season in three of the last four years (2017 Brisbane, 2019 Brisbane, 2020 Brisbane), posting a 16-1 record over that range.
Pliskova opens against Sorana Cirstea, their first single meeting since 2017 Beijing. The first seed she could have is the 16th seed of Donna Vekic, who was hired by coach Sam Sumyk late last season. Marketa Vondrousova 2019 finalist Roland Garros and US Open semifinalist Jennifer Brady pitched the seeds in the quarterback of Pliskova’s lottery.
6. Svitolina, Mertens wide open quarter quarters.
The final quarter of the draw features a series of standout players from 2020, many of whom have a proven track record starting in the fast-paced season. Svitolina and No.7 Elise Mertens seeds are anchored in the quarter, with No. 10 Anett Kontaveit and No.17 Ekaterina Alexandrova circling the seeds.
World No.5 Svitolina captured two titles in 2020 (Monterrey, Strasbourg) and added Roland Garros ’third quarterback to the restart. The 2019 WTA finals champion opens her season against rising American talent Jessica Pegula, with 2020 Palermo champion Fiona Ferro or Vera Zvonareva waiting in the second round.
No.20 Mertens was a regular force once the tour began in 2020, making the quarterfinals or better at six of its last seven events, including two finals (Prague, Linz). Belgium open against Alizé Cornet and could face No. 23 Kontaveit in the Round of 16. The Estonian put up a strong and stable 2020 season, which introduced the first major quarter- She finished at the Australian Open, her best U.S. Open show in the Round of 16, and a quarter-hour appearance at the Open & Southern Open.
Alexandrova of Russia proved herself an ever-growing threat on tough courts last season, capturing the title in Week 1 at the Shenzhen Open and semifinal in St. Petersburg and Linz. The 22-year-old opens against Zarina Diyas.
7. Who’s coming? Five teenagers are mentally ill.
Youngsters have been the story of the WTA Tour over the past four seasons. Jelena Ostapenko seemed to start the youth movement by winning 2017 Roland Garros on her 20th birthday, inspiring Naomi Osaka to win the first of three major titles as a 20-year-old girl older a year later.
Canadian teenage phenom Bianca Andreescu followed the footsteps a year later, winning the 2019 US Open (as well as Indian Wells and Toronto), and 19-year-old Polish Iga Swiatek which continued the movement in 2020, exploding its way to the title of Roland Garros.
Who begs the question: Who’s next?
PHOTOS: All the laughter around Abu Dhabi practice courts
Five teenagers are direct entrants to the lottery in Abu Dhabi, led by 16-year-old American Coco Gauff. Joining No.48 Gauff are No.88 Leylah Fernandez (18), No.99 Marta Kostyuk (18), No.101 Anastasia Potapova (19), and No.123 Wang Qiyu (19).
Gauff will start her 2021 season against No.260 Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway. Fernandez of Canada takes on Jasmine Paolini, Kostyuk opens against a player, Potapova takes on No.9 Sakkari ‘s seed, and Wang takes on Dutch’ Arantxa Rus.
يعطيكم الصحة الناس الكل الي شجعتوني العام هذا, رغم الظروف الصعيبة الي تعدينا بيها, موسم 2020 الحمد لله كان ايجابي, احسن ترتيب ليا في مسيرتي الرياضية و انشاء الله نوعدكم المزيد من التألق.
Thank you to my team for their continued support pic.twitter.com/x3Z6Yq7XKB– Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) 25 October 2020
8. After a season of making history, Jabeur returns to the Middle East.
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur made history in 2020, the first Arab woman to reach the quarter-finals of a Slam, doing so at the Australian Open. Her Melbourne fortnight would be the culmination of a career-best season, as the 26-year-old approached four more seasonal appearances and finished the season at No.31 career level. .
Seeded No.15 in Abu Dhabi, Jabeur is pulling a tough opening against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Russia.
9. First look at Rybakina, Brady, and Podoroska.
No one wanted to go against Elena Rybakina before the season closed in 2020, where she made four finals in her first four events, including a title in Hobart. And no one wanted to go against Jennifer Brady after that, as the heavyweight American grabbed her first title at Lexington and supported a semifinal run at the U.S. Open. And through it all, Nadia Podoroska of Argentina virtually won at the lowest levels, culminating in a semifinal run as a guarantee at Roland Garros and being named WTA Newcomer of the Year by 2020 .
The three are in Abu Dhabi with the aim of building on the success of 2020. Rybakina’s No.6 seed opens against qualification and could face No.12 seed Karolina Muchova in the Round of 16 .
Brady, spawning 11th, opens against Tamara Zidansek, with Canada ‘s Fernandez against the second round and Vondrousova’ s eighth seed approaching in the Round of 16.
Podoroska, who spent a day working with Muguruza in Abu Dhabi, will face Sara Sorribes Tormo in the first round and could face Vekic’s 16th seed in the second round. Pliskova is close to 16.
10. Famous first round matches.
Muguruza vs Mladenovic, Jabeur vs Pavlyuchenkova, Kasatkina vs Q. Wang, Vondrousova vs Hsieh, Ka.Pliskova vs Cirstea, Mertens vs Cornet, Kontaveit vs Kudermetova, Svitolina vs Pegula.