The Dubai Tennis Championships draw is set, and there’s a potential blockbuster brewing in the early rounds: Emma Raducanu could square off with top seed Elena Rybakina in the last 16 - if both handle business in their opening matches.
Rybakina, fresh off her Australian Open triumph, enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed and receives a first-round bye. Raducanu, meanwhile, will have to earn her way there.
She opens against qualifier Elisabetta Cocciaretto, and if she advances, she’ll face the winner of Moyuka Uchijima vs. 15th seed Karolina Muchova. Not exactly a cruise through the desert.
On Rybakina’s side, her first opponent will be either Germany’s Tatjana Maria or Australia’s Kimberly Birrell. If the seeds hold and Raducanu finds her rhythm, we could be looking at a third-round clash between two of the sport’s most compelling shotmakers - one a Grand Slam champion on the rise again, the other a reigning Slam winner in peak form.
Raducanu is expected to kick off her Dubai campaign on Monday, February 16. She’ll be looking to bounce back after a rough outing in Doha, where she was forced to retire from her first-round match against world No.
80 Camila Osorio due to illness. That came just two days after a deep run to the final at the Transylvania Open - a performance that helped her climb to world No.
The Brit doesn’t have much to defend this month - just 75 ranking points from last February, split between Doha (10) and Dubai (65) - so there’s real opportunity here to keep building momentum.
Elsewhere in the draw, several big names have been handed first-round byes. That list includes Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Jasmine Paolini, and Elina Svitolina - all players with the firepower to make deep runs.
But two of the sport’s biggest stars won’t be in the mix. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and four-time major winner Iga Swiatek have both withdrawn from the tournament.
Sabalenka announced her withdrawal with a message to fans, saying: “I’m really sorry I have to withdraw from Dubai. I have such a special connection with the tournament, the fans and the city.
Unfortunately, I am not feeling 100 per cent. But I hope to be back next year and wish the tournament a great event.”
Swiatek cited a schedule change for her absence, adding: “I am sorry to announce that I will not be playing Dubai this year due to a change of schedule. I hope I will come back next year to experience the great tournament. See you guys in Indian Wells.”
The main draw action begins Sunday, February 15, and with a field this deep - even without Sabalenka and Swiatek - there’s no shortage of intrigue. Between Raducanu’s comeback trail, Rybakina’s continued dominance, and a host of rising stars and veteran threats, Dubai is once again shaping up to be a key early-season test on the WTA calendar.