It has been a quiet couple of weeks since Ana’s 4th round loss to Petra Kvitova at the Australian Open. Things are about to get cranking again, however, with Doha and Dubai the next two weeks. Without further ado, here is the draw for the Qatar Ladies Open in Doha, which you can view here.
Ana will open up against Carla Suarez Navarro in the first round. The two have never met before. Suarez Navarro came close to upsetting Petra Kvitova in the 2nd round of the Australian Open, leading a set and a break, before falling in 3 sets. If Ana were to advance, she’ll play a Petra herself in the 2nd round, in either Petra Cetkovska or Petra Martic. As you may recall, Ana was defeated by Petra Cetkovska in the 3rd round at Wimbledon last June in straight sets. Ana will obviously be looking for revenge. US Open champ Sam Stosur, Sorana Cirstea or Jarmila Gajdosova would await in the 3rd round. Zvonareva and Cibulkova are potential quarterfinal opponents, while Wozniacki, Bartoli and Kuznetsova are possible semifinal opponents.
All in all, while Ana’s draw can be a bit tricky, it certainly is doable. Azarenka and Radwanska are left on the other side of the draw, so Ana can’t face either of them until the finals. Given the quality of the field as a whole, I would say Ana has a decent draw. If she serves like she did in the first 3 rounds of the Australian Open, then I like Ana’s chances of making a run this upcoming week.
Doha has not been a particularly great place for Ana in the past. In 2008, she suffered an ankle injury in her 2nd round match vs Olga Govortsova, which forced her to withdraw from the tournament afterwards. Later that year at the Year End Championships, she lost both of the round robin matches in which she participated in before withdrawing due to a viral illness. Last year, she withdrew before coming with an abdominal injury. Ana will look to change her luck this year, as she exclaimed on her facebook page earlier this week:
“I’m soon leaving for Doha. Unfortunately the Middle East has not been a great place for me in terms of results, even though I always enjoy visiting. I’m determined to put that right this year!”
With no points to defend, this would be a great time for Ana to string some wins together. Lets hope she can do it.
