The organizers of next week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships are facing an unwelcome case of deja vu with the withdrawal of it’s defending champion and two former finalists.
On Wednesday, current champion Sara Errani announced her withdrawal due to an abductor injury. The Italian, who hasn’t won a title since her triumph at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre 12 months ago, was forced to pull out due to abductor injury she sustained during last week’s Fed Cup clash between Italy and Slovakia.
“Unfortunately, I’ve suffered a right adductor injury during my last match against Slovakia in Fed Cup.” Errani said in a statement.
“Dubai’s tournament has been crucial to my season since the beginning, as I tried to schedule every move in order to be 100% ready to defend my title as Champion.
Accordingly to what doctors suggested, I will take the right time to recover before getting back on court, which I hope will be as soon as possible. Dubai, I’ll see you next year!”
Joining Errani on the injury bench is three-time Dubai runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian world No.8 has been forced to miss both this week’s Doha Open as well as Dubai due to an abdominal injury.
Similar to Kuznetsova, former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard has also withdraw due to an abdominal injury. The Canadian is currently in America where she went on a high profile date after losing a Super Bowl bet. Finally Alize Cornet, who reached the Dubai final in 2014, has been sidelined from action due to an pectoral tear.
Withdrawals are becoming a regular occurrence in Dubai. Last year Caroline Wozniacki, Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber and Agnieszka Radwanska pulled out of the event due to numerous injury problems. Like Doha, the event is sandwiched between the Fed Cup and the North American hardcourt swing, where back-to-back premier tournaments are held in Indian Wells and Miami.
Despite the quartet of notable absences, six out of the world’s top ten players are still expected to play next week. The field will be headlined by Kerber, Dominika Cibulkova and Radwanska.
The withdrawal history of the Dubai Tennis Championships
2017
Eugenie Bouchard
Alizé Cornet
Sara Errani
Simona Halep
Karin Knapp
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Carla Suárez Navarro
(as of 17/2/2017)
2016
Timea Bacsinszky
Angelique Kerber
Peng Shuai
Agnieszka Radwańska
Lucie Šafářová
Serena Williams
Caroline Wozniacki
2015
Eugenie Bouchard
Dominika Cibulková
Varvara Lepchenko
Serena Williams
