Dates: February 14-20 , 2011
Venue: Dubai, UAE
Tier: Premier
Prize Money: $2,050,000
Surface: Hard/Outdoors
Tournament Director: Salah Tahlak

Official Website: www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com

2010 Performance: 3rd Round. Lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 6-4



Singles:
1R: Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 6-3

Doubles:
1R: Daniela Hantuchova/Agnieszka Radwanska bt Nuria Llagostera Vives/Anastasia Rodionova 6-2 4-6 10:6
2R: Daniela Hantuchova/Agnieszka Radwanska bt Vitalia Diatchenko/Tatiana Poutchek 6-1 6-1
QF: Svetlana Kuznetsova/Vera Zvonareva bt Daniela Hantuchova/Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6(7) 6-4

Eek. Definitely not a very friendly draw. I like Daniela's chances against Anna in round one, but with Caroline and Petra looming in rounds 2 and 3 respectively, Dubai isn't going to be very fun. But at the same time, it's probably the best time for Dani to have a tough draw. She's playing well and is confident. If ever there was a time to take some big scalps...

I agree with you to aswell now is hte time to take some big scalps and I believe if she plays her best tennis she could out power caro.... lets all take one match at a time. Chakkers?? BAD form... dani will probably win this in 2 easy sets. But lets hope chaks vet doesn't get inspired by dani's great form!

daniela 2nd match on centre court tomorrow so live on tv at eurosport

I suppose the first round is to see what would have happened if Daniela had been able to play in Brisbane. If Daniela plays anything like she did in Pattaya then she should beat Chakvetadze fairly easily. Daniela's done a lot of playing and travelling recently from Slovakia to Thailand and now to the Middle East so there may be a bit of tiredness and/or a letdown after winning a tournament. A lot will depend on how fit and focused Daniela is.

Wozniacki hasn't been playing that well so far this year as she didn't play well in the Asian exhibitions and she got beaten by Dominika Cibulkova in Sydney and Wozniacki didn't convince at the Australian Open as Cibulkova made errors, Schiavone was exhausted and the semi-final was determined by Li Na's level as when once Li Na cut down the errors she dictated the match. At the same time Wozniacki is a top player and she'll be rested.

Kvitova's is playing incredibly well right now so she'd be a very difficult opponent but Daniela has to win a couple of matches first and she has to focus on Chakvetadze.

You really want Daniela to maintain the momentum she has from Pattaya but hey, she's just won a tournament so she may still be enjoying that. I'm still enjoying it.

I wouldn't be opposed to a withdrawal here. Daniela has been injured and all...

Good luck Daniela!


She had a great last week. Now, some more wins would be a bonus. But I don't expect anything. We well see...