DOHA (Qatar): Qatar’s Mubaraka Al Naimi will be looking to book her place in the main draw of Qatar Total Open 2021 when she begins her qualifying campaign at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex on Saturday.
In all, a total of 32 players will feature in the main draw of the singles event of the $565,530 tournament, while 16 teams will slug it out in the doubles from March 1 to 6.
An equal number of players will also feature in the qualifying rounds with four making their way into the main draw.
The draw ceremony of the Qatar Total Open 2021, a WTA Tour event will be held virtually on February 27.
The entry list includes several world’s top stars including defending champion Aryna Sabalenka (8), world No. 5 Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova (6), Petra Kvitova (10) and Bianca Andreescu (9)
The list also includes three Grand Slam titles winner Angelique Kerber of Germany, world No.11 Kiki Bertens, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain, USA’s Madison Keys, Poland’s Iga Swiatek and USA’s Jennifer Brady, among others.
In the qualifying rounds, Qatar’s Al Naimi , who made her WTA main draw debut at the 2017 Qatar Total Open in the doubles draw partnering Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman, will be keen to impress before the home crowd.
The 19-year-old is Qatar’s highest-ranked player and an inspiration for many in the country. She is the defending champion of the Qatar Rail Tennis Open Tournament.
Also featuring in the qualifying rounds are Oman’s Fatma Al Nabhani and Algeria’s Ines Ibbou and Cagla Buyukakcay from Turkey.
Al Nabhani is one of the most successful players from the region, having won ten singles titles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.
On October 4, 2010, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 362. On April 28, 2014, she peaked at No. 238 in the doubles rankings. She was the gold medalist at the 2011 Pan Arab Games in Doha.
