By Britwatch Team

• Top Seeds: Elina Svitolina, Garbiñe Muguruza, Karoline Piskova, Jelena Ostapenko
• Defending Champion: Elina Svitolina
• Britwatch: Johanna Konta [7/WC], Qualifying: Eden Silva [QWC]
• CLICK our featured players for stats from TennisAbstract

DUBAI, UAE – The second leg of the middle-eastern swing rolls around, and with Simona Halep’s withdrawal, defending champion Elina Svitolina takes top seed honours, and Johanna Konta comes in as a wildcard.

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Draw & Results

[1] Elina Svitolina

Defending champion Elina Svitolina comes on after a bit of a lack-lustre start since the Australian Open in Doha. Just one win to her name, she will be looking for a bit more form. She has a bye into the second round and since Petra Kvitova‘s withdrawal, has what looks like a clear run to the quarter-finals.

The Ukrainian had started the year well with a win in Brisbane, and her consistency overall keeps her high in the rankings – but she will want to do more than be a bit-player as the spring hard-court swing comes up in March.

[2] Garbiñe Muguruza

Muguruza coasted into the Doha final after Simona Halep had to withdraw, and she showed some real resilience in Doha, especially in her match against Caroline Garcia. Given a bit of a faltering start to the year, troubled with injury at the off, she has looked pretty impressive.

She has not had the greatest time the last couple of years in Dubai after making the semi-finals on her debut in 2015. It remains to be seen how her run to the Doha final affects her when she gets here. She looks set for another clash with Garcia at the quarter-final stage.

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[3] Karolina Pliskova

Pliskova has been struggling with illness and her early exit in Doha leaves the former World No. 1 perhaps a little undercooked. It wasn’t the worst start to the year she could have imagined, reaching the semi-final in Brisbane and the quarter-final in Australia, and if she is feeling back to normal, she should expect to be made to run especially if she ends up facing Angelique Kerber in the quarter-final.

[4] Jelena Ostapenko

We are rapidly coming up to crunch-time for Ostapenko as she will soon start to gear up for her Roland Garros title defence. So far her 2018 has not been exactly inspiring with perhaps an earlier than expected exit at the Australian Open, and a first round exit in Doha. She could find herself up against Britain’s Johanna Konta in the quarter-final.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships take place between 19-24 February – (GMT +4 hours).

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