Dates: 15 - 21 February 2015
Venue: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tier: Premier
Prize Money: $2,513,000
Surface: Hard/Outdoors
Tournament Director: Salah Tahlak

Official website: www.dubaidutyfreechampionships.com


Last Appearance: 2013 1st round. Lost to Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-1

Singles:
1R: Daniela Hantuchova bt Mona Barthel (GER) 7-6 3-6 6-3
2R: [1] Simona Halep (ROU) bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-0

Daniela's playing at 7pm tomorrow, so she's not getting any time off to recover. Barthel's a decent player and she beat Bouchard in Antwerp last week and she beat Daniela in New Haven in 2012. It wouldn't be an easy match but with the circumstances of Daniela playing two long matches in Pattaya and then having a long flight make this a lot tougher. Daniela had a great win in Pattaya and I suspect that she'll still be feeling the effects of it tomorrow. This match is essentially playing with house money. If Daniela wins then it's fantastic but if she doesn't then she's got title no. 7 and 20 in singles and doubles and she can have some time off to celebrate. I'm sure Daniela will try her best.

Seriously think she should have pulled out here...her draw is a beast...and we don't want any injuries or illness like the previous two times she came from Pattaya...a bit worried to be honest.

An absolutely amazing win by Daniela and given the circumstances, one of the best of her career. An incredible combination of will and skill. She kept fighting fighting, kept going for her shots and she got the win. This just showed how great Daniela is.

Hantuchova: Never too tired for tennis
Hantuchova shrugs off travel and triumph to open with Dubai win as Venus stays on course
Alaric Gomes, Senior ReporterPublished: 23:43 February 16, 2015

Dubai: A direct flight between Pattaya and Dubai would take a little over six hours.
On Monday night, less than 24 hours after winning her third title at the PTT Thailand Open, Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova was there pushing herself yet again before carving out a hard-fought 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 win over Mona Barthel before Venus Williams started the defence of her title with a 6-1, 6-2 waltz over Belinda Bencic on the second day of the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open on Monday.

Last weekend in Thailand was not the easiest one after Hantuchova took nearly five hours on court in the semi-final and final of the annual tournament that completed 24 years this year.

She saved two match points to beat Marina Erakovic in 2.46 hours in the semi-finals on Saturday, before playing for another 2.07 hours in the final against Ajla Tomljanovic to bag her seventh career title.
The Slovak looked a bit rusty at times in the opening set, but given her fighting qualities, she just hung in there before winning the set 7-6 in an hour and six minutes.

However, her concentration showed a dip in the next set as she surrendered 3-6 in 37 minutes to force the deciding third.
Rightly, Hantuchova was the first to make a move as she broke her German opponent in the eighth game to surge clear 5-3 to hold serve and finally wrap up set and match 6-3 in two hours and 39 minutes to set a meeting with top seed Simona Halep in the last match on Tuesday.
In the bargain, the Slovak had spent an inspiring playing time of seven hours and 32 minutes on three successive days.

Hantuchova landed in the early hours of Monday and managed just one hour of sleep before coming on court for her opener against the German.
“The key lay in my returns. I am exhausted. I need to recuperate and get ready for tomorrow’s match [against Halep]. This tournament means so much to me and I had to get this done,” she said.




Daniela Hantuchova goes the distance to fulfil Dubai obligations
Barry Flatman Dubai
Last updated at 12:01AM, February 17 2015
Jet-setting and international travel is all part of being a top tennis player. Yet Daniela Hantuchova was forced to take things to the extreme after winning the Thailand Open title in Pattaya City on Sunday and then being back on court more than 3,000 miles away in the Dubai Duty Free Championships little more than 24 hours later.

In that time Hantuchova believed she might have totalled an hour's sleep; 30 minutes on the plane winging her across the Bay of Bengal, India, ad the Arabian Sea, and another 30 minutes dozing before the match. Yet still the 31-year-old Slovak...


the rest of the article is behind a paywall so that's all that was available for free, but here's a tweet from the journalist:
Barry Flatman @Barry_FlatmanST · Feb 16
Full marks @dhantuchova . Won Pattaya title. Driven 2hrs to Bangkok. 61/2hrs flight to Dubai. 1 hr sleeps & beats Mona Barthel in 2hrs38mins

Daniela Hantuchova goes the distance to fulfil Dubai obligations
Barry Flatman
February 17 2015, 12:01am,
The Times

Hantuchova amazed herself with previously unexplored powers of endurance in her victory over Barthel
FRANCOIS NEL/GETTY IMAGES
Share
Save
Jet-setting and international travel is all part of being a top tennis player. Yet Daniela Hantuchova was forced to take things to the extreme after winning the Thailand Open title in Pattaya City on Sunday and then being back on court more than 3,000 miles away in the Dubai Duty Free Championships little more than 24 hours later.

In that time Hantuchova believed she might have totaled an hour’s sleep; 30 minutes on the plane winging her across the Bay of Bengal, India, and the Arabian Sea, and another 30 minutes dozing before the match. Yet still the 31-year-old Slovak showed great stoicism to battle for two hours and 39 minutes and register a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 win over the powerful Mona Barthel, of Germany.

Hantuchova amazed herself with previously unexplored powers of endurance. After beating Ajla Tomljanovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Pattaya final she dashed back to her hotel room, rushed her packing and was driven two hours to Bangkok airport. Her flight to Dubai lasted six and a half hours but although she travelled in a comfortable class, she is not somebody who finds it easy to relax on planes.

Eventually she arrived at her Dubai hotel at 5.30am. “Then I tried to sleep but nothing,” Hantuchova said. “So I had breakfast. Went to the gym and a few minutes on the bike just to move my body a little bit. Then had a warm up, some treatments, and I don’t know how I’m still awake.”

Things aren’t going to get any easier for Hantuchova and she is due back on court again in Tuesday’s evening session against Simona Halep, the event’s new top seed following the withdrawal of Serena Williams, the world No 1.

How did Hantuchova manage to get through? “I think it’s just the heart,” said the 14-year veteran of the WTA, who has been contesting the Dubai event since 2005 and this year was given the boost of a wildcard into the main draw. “This is what I work for, and this is where the love for the sport comes in. Yes, I’m tired, but it’s the best feeling in the world.”


HALEP: I HAVE TO TAKE IT MATCH BY MATCH

Halep has her work cut out for her right out of the blocks, too. Her first opponent of the week is Daniela Hantuchova, who isn't just fresh off her first WTA title of the year in Pattaya City, but has already won a match in Dubai too - just a day after completing that title run in Thailand, she battled more than two and a half hours on Monday night to edge Mona Barthel in their first round clash, 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3.

The Slovak was asked afterwards about her 24-hour turnaround from Pattaya City to Dubai.

"I finished the final at 7 o'clock last night," she said. "I went straight to my room, packed quickly, rushed to the airport. Didn't sleep at all during the flight and got here at 5:30 in the morning. Then I tried to sleep - nothing. Had breakfast. Went to do the bike a little bit, just to kind of move my body a little bit. Then I had a warm-up and some treatments, and I really don't know how I'm still awake!

"But this is what I work for, and this is where the love for the sport comes in."

And knowing Dani, she probably only recounted the hour of sleep because she was asked. I was as proud to be her fan after the Barthel match as I was for the Pattaya hat trick.