2025 WTA Dubai 1000
- Thread starter spystud
- Start date
ScottleeSV
Hall of Fame
Emma has a handy draw. Leads Sakkari 2-0 in h2h. But, you know, when you're on a losing streak...
A few repeat draws which will not amuse the likes of Sabalenka and Zheng; they could have Alexandrova and Jabeur again.
A few repeat draws which will not amuse the likes of Sabalenka and Zheng; they could have Alexandrova and Jabeur again.
ScentOfDefeat
G.O.A.T.
The Raducanu coddling is disgusting.
Of course she's bound to play someone who's even worse than her by the 13th wildcard she's given.
If she's gonna get a wildcard for every big tournament she plays it should be mandatory for her to play a top 20 player in the first round.
At least Kenin is slowly getting her level back up the right way. No one was gonna give her 13 wildcards out of 18 tournaments played.
Of course she's bound to play someone who's even worse than her by the 13th wildcard she's given.
If she's gonna get a wildcard for every big tournament she plays it should be mandatory for her to play a top 20 player in the first round.
At least Kenin is slowly getting her level back up the right way. No one was gonna give her 13 wildcards out of 18 tournaments played.
ScottleeSV
Hall of Fame
Emma wins, and more importantly, secures 10 more wildcards.
ScottleeSV
Hall of Fame
Looking at the highlights, the court looks like it's got a nice bit zip on it which should suit Emma. Her shots often look like they're lacking a bit of bite. Just another reason I was surprised she turned down the chance to play Dubai that year she played Mexico instead and got embroiled in a slow and spongey 3 hour nightmare with Saville.
Larry Duff
G.O.A.T.
Nice win for Emma.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Hate being that person that asks others to predict a players future but what do people see for Kasatkina because i'm lost with her. A terrible loss today to Cirstea today.
She's been consistently top 10 / top 20 for many years now but no 1000 titles, just one slam SF and since the start of 2019 she's had just one 1000 SF and two QF's. Not even a final. She's woefully inconsistent.
Just awful at the main stage.
She's been consistently top 10 / top 20 for many years now but no 1000 titles, just one slam SF and since the start of 2019 she's had just one 1000 SF and two QF's. Not even a final. She's woefully inconsistent.
Just awful at the main stage.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Uchijama is destroying Ostapenko.
6-3 4-0.
Oh Jelena.
6-3 4-0.
Oh Jelena.
spystud
Talk Tennis Guru
She’s just a floater. No ceiling, just a name in a draw. Threw a double bagel in 42 minutes last week against a sister on the take, then drilled by a journeywoman this week. That’s her career.
austintennis2005
Professional
I hope she gets a million wild cards! Go Emma!
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
DUBAI—Amanda Anisimova had no time to celebrate winning the biggest title of her career last weekend. The American was back on court less than 48 hours after winning the Qatar TotalEnergies Open and discussed the tricky scheduling that contributed to her 6-2, 6-3 defeat to McCartney Kessler at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
“Definitely a little scary to go and play after such a quick turnaround,” she said in her post-match press conference. “Not testing out the conditions and putting your body through that, it's like very vulnerable.”
The 23-year-old stormed to her first WTA 1000 title on Saturday, defeating Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets to secure a Top 20 debut this week. But the pressure of back-to-back 1000-level tournaments had Anisimova, whose pre-Doha ranking prevented her from obtaining a first-round bye, scrambling to be ready in time to compete on Monday afternoon.
“With the schedule they have on us, it's tough,” she said. “You get fined. Then your ranking gets affected if you skip the big tournaments. We don't get much of a choice when it comes to that. Knowing that in my mind, I was like, ‘Okay, I'm going to try to play and do the best that I can. Hopefully I can get more used to that.’”
“Definitely a little scary to go and play after such a quick turnaround,” she said in her post-match press conference. “Not testing out the conditions and putting your body through that, it's like very vulnerable.”
The 23-year-old stormed to her first WTA 1000 title on Saturday, defeating Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets to secure a Top 20 debut this week. But the pressure of back-to-back 1000-level tournaments had Anisimova, whose pre-Doha ranking prevented her from obtaining a first-round bye, scrambling to be ready in time to compete on Monday afternoon.
“With the schedule they have on us, it's tough,” she said. “You get fined. Then your ranking gets affected if you skip the big tournaments. We don't get much of a choice when it comes to that. Knowing that in my mind, I was like, ‘Okay, I'm going to try to play and do the best that I can. Hopefully I can get more used to that.’”
Bill Lobsalot
Hall of Fame
Poor thing. The horror of it all!
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
I would love to know how easy it is to come up with a phony excuse to withdraw from a tournament as to not get punished.
Take a look at Rybakina. Withdrew from almost like every 3rd tournament last year with a different excuse and didn’t get punished. Surely a player like Anisimova who just won a 1000 could lie and say she felt a niggle in her shoulder or claim some injury in order to withdraw instead of having this embarrassing loss?
Others always do it. Wonder what the threshold is in terms of “proving” your injury.
Take a look at Rybakina. Withdrew from almost like every 3rd tournament last year with a different excuse and didn’t get punished. Surely a player like Anisimova who just won a 1000 could lie and say she felt a niggle in her shoulder or claim some injury in order to withdraw instead of having this embarrassing loss?
Others always do it. Wonder what the threshold is in terms of “proving” your injury.
ScottleeSV
Hall of Fame
Any player could just put 'mental health - need a rest' on the withdrawal form and there's nothing the WTA could do about it (other than exclude them from the bonus pool). That's not me being cynical of the mental health excuse btw. Essentially it would be the truth, more or less.
I don't get what she means about the ranking being affected. When you've just won a W1000, what difference does it make whether you get 0 or 50 points(?) the next week? The WTA don't give out minus points if they're annoyed at you.
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
I assume Rybakina got some zero pointers last year?
“All players who are accepted into the Main Draw of a WTA 1000 Mandatory Tournament as a direct acceptance…must play that WTA 1000 Mandatory Tournament,” lest they risk getting a so-called “zero-pointer” factored into their ranking average at the end of the season—and a fine if the player fails to comply with the requirements of an on-site withdrawal.
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
Sabalenka got to #1 over Swiatek last year because Swiatek didn't play the required amount of 500 events and they subtracted her points total.
Why Aryna Sabalenka overtook Iga Swiatek for world number one in the WTA rankings
The Belarusian has had a sterling season, but her formal ascent to the top of the latest table hinged on a WTA rule.
www.nytimes.com
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Tried to look up the points breakdown of Rybakina’s ranking on the WTA site but it’s so woeful I couldn’t work it out. Perhaps she does have some, I’m honestly not sure. I still think Amanda and Ostapenko could’ve withdrawn and had perhaps one of the non mandatory 1000 tournaments take it’s spot for the points but I won’t claim to be an expert on the points breakdown.
Just seems that so many other players, even players ranked lower than them do this and end up unpunished ranking wise that I think it would be ok?
robyrolfo
Hall of Fame
I think Kasatkina is actually fairly consistent (at least by WTA standards). She just has the type of game that is very good and effective against players outside the top 20 or 25, but then rarely causes trouble for the better players on tour.
I'm not sure what Cristea's ranking currently is, but she's a good player when on form, and I think Cristea lives or trains part of the year in Dubai, so maybe she is more used to the conditions?
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
No disrespect to Cirstea who can show up at any time. Like the Kaia Kanepi’s of the world. But she’ll never win anything above a 500. Was more curious if people thought Kasatkina could nab a 1000 title or even a slam.
I mean someone like Vondrousova did it and Kasatkina has been at the top of the game for so long but hasn’t really looked close to getting there so I was wondering others opinions.
robyrolfo
Hall of Fame
Oh, I don't see Kasatkina winning a 1000 or a slam unless everything goes her way with a draw.
Give her Raducanu's 2021 US Open draw, and she could easily win it as well (so long as Bencic chokes the way she did against Emma).
But as long as she has to beat a few top players in the latter stages, I don't know if it's possible. Her top level isn't nearly as dangerous as Vondrousova. But I personally like Kasatkina. She is cute, she seems very nice, and her tennis is sort of fun to watch (she's not a ball basher).
spystud
Talk Tennis Guru
I got 4 of my 5, Kalinina played terrible.
Just on sheer coincidence, I would prefer all 5 on the right to win.
Bill Lobsalot
Hall of Fame
Or she could have played to win as Danielle Collins did last year winning two tournaments back to back.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Um. You do realise those were completely different events right?
Anisimova won Doha. A 1000 tournament that goes for one week and she wins the final on the 16th February. Then flies to Dubai and plays her first match on the 17th February. Literally 24 hours later in a different country.
Collins won Miami. A 1000 tournament spread across two weeks. She won the final on the 31st March. Then flies to Charleston and plays her first match on the 3rd of April. 3 days later. Same country.
Please don’t compare the two lol.
Bill Lobsalot
Hall of Fame
I just did. Collins beat Rybakina and won two tournaments in a row.
Amanda lost to Kessler in the first round.
Don't make excuses for these snowflakes.
Doha and Dubai is a 30 minute flight.
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Im not a gambler. But if I was and saw someone like Anisimova win a huge title like that after her struggles over the years and then saw she was going into another big tournament right after I would totally put money down on her opponent. No shade to Amanda but going deep, winning, then back to another big tourney she aint used to that at all.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Read what I said. Collins won a 2 week event and had 3 days between the final of the first and her next match at Charleston.
Anisimova had less than 24 hours from the final of a 1 week tournament to then flying to Doha for her next match in Dubai the next day. Quick flight but no time to adjust, train or anything.
Anyway she should’ve withdrawn.
placebo
Rookie
Amanda was also slightly injured throughout the tournament and almost withdrew from Doha because of that. She also said she was dealing with That Time of the Month yesterday.
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