Number 1 seed Sofia Kenin could face Garbine Muguruza in the quarter final of the Abu Dhabi Women’s Tennis Open in a possible re-match of last year’s Australian Open final against two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza. Kenin won her first Grand Slam title at last year’s edition of the Australian Open and reached the French Open final finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek.
Muguruza will take on Kristina Mladenovic in the first round and could face either number 9 seed Maria Sakkari or US teenager Coco Gauff.
Top ten player Aryna Sabalenka will meet either Slovenia’s Polona Hercog in the first round. The Belarusian player won three titles during a successful 2020 season in Doha, Ostrava and Linz. Sabalenka is on collision course for a potential quarter final clash against Elena Rybakina, who won the Hobart title and reached four finals in Shenzhen, St. Petersburg, Dubai and Strasbourg.
Last year’s Roland Garros quarter finalist Martina Trevisan has been drawn against Yulia Putintseva in the top section.
Karolina Pliskova leads the bottom half of the draw and will open her campaign against Sorana Cristea, who recently won the ITF tournament in Dubai. Pliskova won the Brisbane title in the first week of the season in three of the past four years. The Czech player is now coached by Sasha Bajin.
Marketa Vondrousova, who reached the Roland Garros final in 2019, will face Hsieh su-Wei. Vondrousova has been drawn in the same section of the draw as 2020 US Open semifinalist Jennifer Brady, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, two teenagers, who broke into the top 100. Fernandez will play against Jasmine Paolini in the first round.
Number 2 Elina Svitolina will take on Jessica Pegula in the first round in the bottom half of the draw. The winner of this match set up a second round against either last August’s Palermo Ladies Open champion Fiona Ferro or former world number 2 Vera Zvonareva. A potential quarter final opponent could be either Elise Mertens or Anett Kontaveit. Mertens will start against Alizé Cornet in the first round.
