FROM LEFT: Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, Roberta Vinci of Italy and Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman during the draw ceremony of the Qatar Total Open in Doha yesterday.
World No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska was yesterday handed a tough draw for this week's WTA Qatar Total Open which begins at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
The 2012 Wimbledon runner-up from Poland, one of the four seeded players, has got a bye in the first round of the 32-player event but will face the winner of the first-round match between former world No1. Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Kiki Berterns of Nertherlands.
In all, 32 players will compete in the singles while 16 pairs will be showcasing their skills in the doubles of the six-day tournament.
“I have always enjoyed playing here in Qatar. Nice weather, not hot not cold, not so windy and little rain,” said Radwanska while talking to journalists after the draw ceremony.
Radwanska is one of the six world top 10 players featuring at the February 13 to 18 event that has $776,000 prize up for grabs.
The array of stars at this year’s tournament also include world No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany, who will be joined by the likes of World. 5 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, No. 6 Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic and Spain’s Garbine Muguruza among others.
“I hope to play some tough matches in Qatar and in Dubai and pick up a few points on the way,” Radwanska added, who has 20 career titles against her name.
If Radwanska gets past the Wozniacki hurdle, she expected to face top seed Kerber in the semi-finals.
When asked about the possible clash with the former world number one, Radwanska said she is looking forward to the second-round clash with Wozniacki.
“I want to focus on the second round clash and afterwards talk about the semi-finals,” she said.
Looking at the 2017 season, Radwanska said: “Losing at the second round of the Grand Slam (Australian Open) was a disappointment."
The 27-year-old has had not the best of the starts in the season, losing to eventual semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the second round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, but is looking optimistically at the season ahead.
Cibulkova, the third seed, along with second seed Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic are in the lower half of the draw and will most likely clash in the semi-final if the results go as per the rankings and seeding’s.
"It’s a great privilege to host these bevy of stars once again in Doha. We are looking forward to a great tournament which the spectators will enjoy," said Tariq Darwish Zainal, General Secretary of Qatar Tennis Federation.
“This tournament is a great achievement, not only because of the world class players and successful organization, but it also underlies Qatar’s capacity to organize successfully internal sports events. We have been sponsoring this tournament for over 15 years now and it has become a part of our culture. We wish all the best to the players,” said Christophe Eon, Deputy Vice President, HR, Communications and CSR of Qatar Total, one of the sponsors of the event.
