January 25, 2010

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Next month, the first of the “Premier 5” tournaments on the 2010 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour schedule will be staged in the United Arab Emirates when the best players in the world will head to Dubai from February 13-21 for the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

Just like this summer’s Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Montreal, Dubai will welcome the Top 10 players in the world including defending champion Venus Williams. Tennis fans may recall that Venus defeated Serena en route to the title in a tightly contested semifinal clash between two of the game’s all-time greats. The win was Venus’ only triumph over her younger sister in 2009 and tenth victory overall in the storied Williams rivalry which has been flourishing for the past 11 years.

Last year’s Dubai event also saw a few lower profile players make it through to the latter stages of the draw including Kaia Kanepi, Elena Vesnina and Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano who fell to Venus in the championship match.

Serbian sensation Ana Ivanovic will also join the star-studded field slated to compete in Dubai in a few weeks. Stay tuned to www.wtatour.com for all of the latest news and results from the event. The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships precede “Premier 5” Tour stops in Rome, Montreal, Cincinnati and Tokyo on the tennis schedule.