Bethanie Mattek-Sands was the final American alive in qualifying but she was knocked off 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) by Mona Barthel so there will only be six Americans in the main draw. Mattek-Sands was able to get to the Barthel serve and work into break point situations a lot but only broke her on 5 of 19 break points. Mattek-Sands was broken four times in seven break points.
Now as we turn to the main draw the US will feature three players: Venus Williams who looked good in Qatar but couldn’t pull off the upset, Sloane Stephens who struggled in Qatar and could really use a tournament like this to make a statement, and world #1 Serena Williams who is playing for the first time since the Australian Open where she struggled with a back injury at the end. It will be interesting to see how Serena looks this week.
Singles Draw
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. Matches highlighted in yellow are on today’s schedule. Click to expand.
The Matchups
#1 Serena Willaims doesn’t yet know any of her actual opponents but we can look at how she matches up with the highest ranked player she could face in each round. Possible second round opponent Ekaterina Makarova is 1-2 against Williams with Williams a 6-4, 6-0 winner in their last matchup in the round of 32 in the US Open in 2012. The possible quarterfinal matchup with Jelena Jankovic would be their first meeting since Williams knocked her off 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the semifinals of the WTA Championships in October. Williams is 8-4 all-time vs. Jankovic.
The semifinals would bring a possible matchup with Petra Kvitova who is 0-5 against Williams and was another player defeated by Serena in the WTA Championships, 6-2, 6-3 in the round robin portion. The top seed Serena could face in the final is Agnieszka Radwanksa who is 0-8 vs. Williams and Serena beat 6-2, 6-4 in the round robin of the WTA Championships.
For Sloane Stephens the first round will bring a matchup with Lucie Safarova, the first ever meeting between the two. If Stephens did advance she would likely face Jelena Jankovic. The two met for the first time in Cincinnati last year with Jankovic winning 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the round of 16.
Venus Williams will be the lower seeded player in her first round matchup with Elena Vesnina and is 0-2 all-time with their last meeting also in Cincinnati last year where Vesnina won 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the round of 32.
Doubles Draw
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. Matches highlighted in yellow are on today’s schedule. Click to expand.
The Matchups
The top American doubles team in Dubai will be Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigal Spears who are co-ranked 19th in the world right now. Their first round matchup is with another American, Liezel Huber, who is playing with Hao-ching Chan of Taipei this week. There has never been a matchup between these teams. If Kops-Jones and Spears do advance as the higher ranked players they would face the #1 seeded Italian team of co-world #6 Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. The Americans are 0-4 in the matchup with the Italians with the most recent meeting in the semifinals in Sydney in January where the Italians won 6-3, 4-6, 10-7.
Lisa Raymond will be playing this weekend with Shuai Zhang of China for just the third time. They are the higher ranked team in their first round matchup with Karolina Pliskova and Kristyna Pliskova and the teams have never met. If they do advance they would be the lower ranked team against the #4 seed, Cara Black and Sania Mirza and again the teams have never met.
The final American doubles team is Venus and Serena Williams. They are the lower ranked team in their first round matchup with both ranked #90, just barely in the top 100. They start things off with the #2 seed Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. The rankings here are a bit of a mirage as Venus and Serena are so lowly ranked since they rarely play doubles. These two teams have never met before.
Monday Schedule
All times ET
- Approx. 5 AM – Sloane Stephens vs. Lucie Safarova on Center Court – First ever meeting
- Approx. 7 AM – Hao-Ching Chan/Liezel Huber vs. Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears on Court 1 – First ever meeting
- Approx. 9 AM – Lisa Raymond/Shuai Zhang vs. Karolina Pliskova/Kristyna Pliskova on Court 1 – First ever meeting
- Approx. 10 AM – Venus Williams vs. Elena Vesnina on Center Court – Vesnina is 2-0 all-time
Between Serena’s first appearance since Australia, a rare Serena and Venus doubles appearance, and another chance to see what the young Sloane Stephens does there’s a lot to follow this week in Dubai.
