Wozniacki, Venus at Dubai; Tsonga Defends Marseille; Previews
Barclay Dubai Tennis Championships
Dubai, UAE
Surface: outdoor hard (Deco-Turf II)
$2,000,000
Seeds: Caroline Wozniacki, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Aggie Radwanska, Na Li, Sam Stosur, Flavia Pennetta, Marion Bartoli, Vera Zvonareva, Yanina Wickmayer, Francesca Schiavone, Nadia Petrova, Jie Zheng
Floaters: Shahar Peer, Lucie Safarova, Sabine Lisicki, Daniela Hantuchova, Elena Vesnina, (Q) Alicia Molik, (WC) Maria Kirilenko
Notes: Top 8 seeds receive first-round byes; openers of interest include (13) Wickmayer vs. Peer, (8) Li vs. Safarova likely 2nd rd., (3) Venus vs. Lisicki likely 2nd rd., (5) Dementieva vs. Hantuchova likely 2nd rd., (12) Zvonareva vs. Vesnina in a difficult all-Russian, (16) Zheng vs. (Q) Molik; Peer was denied a spot in the draw last year by organizers who blamed the Dubai government; Serena Williams and Dinara Safina pulled from the event citing injury; last year Venus beat Serena in the semis and Virginie Razzano in the final for the title.
Open 13
Marseille, France
Surface: indoor hard (Greenset)
$512,750
Seeds: Robin Soderling, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael “Force” Monfils, Tommy Robredo, Gilles Simon, Mikhail Youzhny, Marcos Baghdatis, Julien “United Colors of” Benneteau
Floaters: none
Notes: The Top 4 seeds receive byes; not a lot of unseeded excitement; nine Frenchmen in draw not counting qualifiers; Simon playing first tourney of 2010 after injury; Andy Murray pulled from the event; Monfils 0-4 career in Marseille; returning champs in field are Tsonga (2009), Simon (2007), and Arnaud Clement (2006).
Also Check Out:
Andy Murray Withdraws from Marseille
Djokovic Tops Youzhny, Defends Dubai Title
Jankovic Heads Portoroz; Petkovic Defends in Bad Gastein; WTA Previews
Marseille Management Wants Murray Suspended (Maybe Not)
Kvitova Clocks Clijsters; Hantuchova Wins; WTA Dubai, Memphis Previews