Williams, Azarenka lead the field at WTA Qatar Open

Victoria Azarenka won the Qatar Total Open last year.

By Sports Reporter/Doha

World No. 1 Serena Williams will lead a field of star athletes at the Qatar Total Open, which will run from February 10 to February 16, 2014.

Organised by Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF), the Doha event, which was first held in 2001, was the first professional women’s tennis tournament staged in the Middle East and today it is a WTA Premier 5 event – bringing with it the greatest names in the sport.

Apart from Williams, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, French Open champion Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanksa, Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani, Jelena Jankovic, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki will also grace the courts at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha.

In the 56-player draw, 43 players will be directly entered into the field, with eight qualifiers and five wildcards. The top eight seeds will be given a first round bye. Total prize money for the event is USD $2,440,070.

Tournament director, Saad al-Mohannadi, spoke of this year’s field, “We are honored to have another year with players of the highest caliber coming to the Qatar Total Open. It is an incredible field and guarantees extremely competitive matches. It will be exciting to see if Victoria Azarenka can defend her title for a second time among such a talented group of athletes including Serena and Venus Williams, French Open winner Li Na and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. We look forward to hosting an amazing week of tennis.”

Tickets for the event can be purchased online beginning 5pm today at www.qatartennis.org