Dubai: For good measure Simona Halep was not even meant to be here defending her title in Dubai this week. Following her shock first-round loss at the Australian Open last month, the Romanian had announced her intention to undergo surgery on her troublesome nose.
But then something made her change her mind. She postponed her surgery and instead decided to play Fed Cup for Romania last week. That was the leeway that organisers from Dubai needed and they offered the 24-year-old from Constanta a wild card that she gladly accepted.
Closer home, the tournament had received a jolt or two. First, No.4 Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2012 champion, withdrew, followed all too briskly by the departure of the two finalists of this year’s Australian Open – champion Angelique Kerber and losing finalist Serena Williams.
But despite the loss of these stars, organisers have no need to fret. The field is as healthy as can be. After all, everyone aspires to be in Dubai for this annual tennis extravaganza. This year is no different. With Halep taking over the crown of being the top seed, there is enough depth to see huge doses of intrigue and excitement as the week plods along.
Dubai was one of the many successes for Halep last season. She went on to win in Shenzhen and Indian Wells, while finishing second-best in Toronto and Cincinnati. She was also a semi-finalist at Miami, Stuttgart, Rome and at the US Open.
Halep’s meteoric rise in the world of tennis has been well-documented. She first broke into the top 50 at the end of the 2012 season, and then into the top 20 in August 2013, and then into the big league of the top ten in January the following year after making it to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
The year 2013 was by far her greatest season as Halep won her first six WTA titles in the same calendar year – a feat that was last achieved by German Steffi Graf when she won her first seven. By the end of the year, the Romanian was named the WTA’s Most Improved Player, while also being named the ESPN Centre Court’s Most Improved Player.
Her march continued the following season with an appearance in the final of the French Open, where she lost in three sets to Maria Sharapova. Halep also reached the title-round of the WTA Finals where she was stopped by Serena Williams in straight sets.
Off the court, Halep has been the most clicked player on WTATennis.com for two consecutive years [in 2014 and 2015], when she was awarded the WTA Most Popular Player of the Year prize.
Then there is Petra Kvitova. Announcing her arrival after her major upset of then world no.1 Dinara Safina in the third round of the 2009 US Open, the left-hander from the Czech Republic has become a mainstay in the women’s top 10.
Her breakthrough season was in 2011 when she won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon and then signed off the season with a flourish after winning the year-ending WTA Tour Championships on debut. In that same year, she also led the Czech Republic to victory in the Fed Cup to hand her country its first title as an independent nation.
Kvitova won her second Grand Slam, also at Wimbledon, in 2014. She has also been a semi-finalist at the 2012 Australian Open and the 2012 French Open. The lanky girl, who now resides in Monaco, did well last year too while winning titles in Sydney, Madrid and New Haven and she took the runners-up spot at the year-ender in Singapore.
However, this year has been a slow start for Kvitova and the former champion will be hoping to make maximum use of her wild card to improve on her record of just one win after five matches so far this season.
Perhaps one of the most exciting players of this generation is the young Garbine Muguruza. Even though the 22-year-old Venezuela-born Spaniard has just the Hobart International and the China Open titles against her name, she has shown she has the game to make an impact against the best by reaching the final at Wimbledon last year.
And then there is Muguruza’s doubles partner Carla Suarez Navarro – the duo have five titles while reaching one Grand Slam final at the 2014 French Open – who is capable of taking on any of the top players. The 27-year-old Spaniard first made headlines while reaching the 2008 French Open quarter-finals as a qualifier.
Perhaps, long-time Dubai resident Jelena Jankovic summed it up best. “One look at the draw and you know that no game is going to be easy. There are some really good players too and it is going to be an exciting week of tennis,” Jankovic said.
