After knocking off Eugenie Bouchard in Doha earlier in the week Bethanie Mattek-Sands finds herself in qualifying in Dubai trying to reach the main draw of the tennis championship. Mattek-Sands is joined in the qualifying draw by Varvara Lepchenko and a late addition, Abigail Spears (normally a doubles player).
Qualifying Draws
This is the route for each American to the main draw if the higher rankings win. Green means the American on the left would be the higher ranked player, red means they would be lower ranked. Bold on an athlete indicates that match has been completed. Click to expand.
The Matchups
Bethanie Mattek-Sands begins with Karolina Pliskova who has beaten her in two of their three meetings including a 6-2, 6-4 Pliskova win in the round of 32 in Pattaya City about three weeks ago. If Mattek-Sands moves on her expected opponent would be Mona Barthel who has beaten Mattek-Sands 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in their only meeting, a quarterfinal matchup in Copenhagen in 2011.
Varavara Lepchenko faces Maryna Zanevska in the first round, their first ever meeting, and if Petra Martic does play her in round two Lepchenko holds a 6-4, 6-1 win in their only matchup, a round of 32 win in Cueno in June 2009.
If Lepchenko and Mattek-Sands both win their first two matches they would meet for a spot in the main draw. Mattek-Sands holds a 4-1 advantage in the matchup with their last meeting a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 Mattek-Sands win in the round of 32 of the French Open in 2011.
Abigail Spears has never faced Annika Beck and has only played three singles matches on the tour in the last year.
Points Defending
Here is a table showing how many WTA ranking points each player is defending and what round they’ll need to reach to get at least that many again this year.
Saturday Schedule
All times ET
- Approx. 3:30 AM – Abigail Spears vs. Annika Beck on Court 7
- Approx: 7:30 AM – Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs. Kristyna Pliskova on Court 1
- Approx: 7:30 AM – Varvara Lepchenko vs. Maryna Zanevska on Court 3
Hopefully Mattek-Sands and Lepchenko can win their first two matches and guarantee us another American in the main draw.
