By Sports Reporter/Doha
One of the most popular players on the women’s tennis tour has been added to the already strong player field for the 2015 Qatar Total Open. Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki (pictured), the world No8 ranked player, has been granted a wildcard into the main draw of the 23-28 February event to be held at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.
Wozniacki has previously been as high as No 1 in the world and is on a strong surge up the rankings after a powerful finish to 2014 which saw her reach the final of the US Open and the Year-End Championship.
She won her 22nd career singles title in 2014 with victory at Istanbul and was also a finalist at Tokyo as well as reaching semi-finals of five events; Dubai, Monterrey, Eastbourne, Cincinnati and Wuhan.
The 24-year-old also finished the year in the top 10 rankings for the seventh straight time.
She started 2015 with a finals appearance at Auckland before losing to Venus Williams in three sets and has continued her popularity on the tennis circuit with fans around the world.
“The Qatar Tennis Federation is extremely happy to have Caroline Wozniacki returning to Doha, she is a very well-liked player with the crowd and had a strong record in the past 12 months performing at the top level,” said Qatar Total Open Tournament Director Saad al-Mohannadi.
We now have six players who have entered with top 10 rankings, all of them are from different nationalities. This alone will make for a special tournament, plus there are other players such as Venus Williams and Sam Stosur who are in the top 20 and will be title contenders,”
Wozniacki has played in Doha five times previously with her best result in 2011 where she reached the final before falling to Vera Zvonareva.
Already confirmed for the Qatar Total Open are five other top 10 ranked players; world No 3 and defending champion, Simona Halep, current Wimbledon champion and No 4 ranked Petra Kvitova, Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland at No 6, Germany’s Angelique Kerber at No 9 and Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova the world No 10.
Also in the player acceptance list are seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams, former US Open winner Sam Stosur from Australia and two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The tournament will be held at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex, 23-28 February with qualifying taking place 21-22 February. Tickets are now available online at www.qatartennis.org and at City Center, Landmark, Lagoona, Villaggio and on-site at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.
