An Overview Of 2011 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship
At the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, the world’s top women tennis players compete this week. Besides Grand Slam and Masters Events, the urban oasis of the United Arab Emirates growing city has become a venue for one of the most prestigious tournaments on the WTA tour. On regular WTA events, the $360,000 prize money is one of the largest sums offered.
For the title in Dubai, eight of the world’s top tennis ladies came to compete. This year Venus Williams could not defend her title, who was last year’s champion. From the event, Australian Open champion and current world number 1 Kim Clijsters will also be absent. Coming from the game’s other stars however; there is plenty of excitement in Dubai.
In their first round matches the top seeds received byes as well as enjoyed some time off the court exploring Dubai. In the first round of action featuring the lower ranked players there weren’t any surprising victories. Even though Ivanovic has a history of inconsistent results, 14th seeded Ana Ivanovic lost her first match to the lefty veteran Patty Schnyder. Sania Mirza of India a wildcard contender, won her first match 6-3 6-1 who is also a fan favorite in Dubai.
As the top seeds got to show off their form the competition heated up in the second round. As Anna Chakvetadze retired in the second set, first seed Caroline Wozniacki won her match. Even though Vika prevailed in a tough third set tiebreak, 7th seed Victoria Azarenka was challenged by Chinese qualifier Peng. By 6-3 6-1 sets second seed Vera Zvonareva comfortably won. Australian Open runner up Li Na lost to Yanina Wickmayer in three sets after two and a half hours on court, which is the upset of the tournament so far.