DUBAI // Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, the two top ranked players in the women’s game and finalists at last month’s Australian Open, have pulled out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships citing illness and injuries.
Read more: Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and the five players to watch at the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships
The absence of Williams and Kerber means defending champion Simona Halep is the top seed, followed by Spaniards Garbine Muguruza, Carla Suarez Navarro and the 2013 champion Petra Kvitova, and the top four seeds have a first-round bye.
World No 13 Karolina Pliskova, who lost to Halep in the 2015 final, is the No 6 seed and will open her campaign against American CoCo Vandeweghe, an opponent who beat her in the Wimbledon second round last year.
“There is no easy player in this draw,” said Pliskova. “I know CoCo pretty well. We played in Wimbledon and we practised a few times.
“So it is definitely going to be a tough first round, but I believe I can go through.”
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