2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin has received a main draw wildcard into next week’s WTA 1000 event in Dubai, per Michal Samulski. Kenin, a former world No 4, is set to make her fourth appearance on the hard courts of Dubai.
WTA1000 Dubai main draw wildcards:
Sofia Kenin
Linda Fruhvirtova
Marta Kostyuk
Ipek Oz
Vera Zvonareva — Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) February 16, 2023
Kenin, 24, made her Dubai debut in 2019, when she made the round-of-16 before losing to Viktoria Kuzmova.
In 2020, Kenin returned to Dubai but this time didn’t have any success as she was beaten by Elena Rybakina in the first round. Last year, Kenin made her third Dubai appearance – she lost against Jelena Ostapenko in her opener at the tournament.
Kenin, now ranked at No 210 in the world, is now returning to Dubai as a wildcard recipient.
Kenin receives her third wildcard for February
Kenin has now received her third main draw wildcard for a February event. In early February, Kenin competed at a WTA event in Linz as a wildcard recipient.
In Linz, Kenin didn’t enjoy lots of success as she was beaten by Jule Niemeier in the first round. After Linz, Kenin was also awarded a main draw wildcard into this week’s WTA 500 event in Doha. In Doha, Kenin arrived riding a three-match losing streak.
In the Doha first round, Kenin upset world No 15 Liudmila Samsonova 6-3 6-1. For Kenin, it was her first top-20 win since the 2020 French Open. After ousting Samsonova, Kenin didn’t manage to also deliver against Veronika Kudermetova in her next match as the Russian handed her a 6-2 7-5 loss in the round-of-16.
Even though Kenin didn’t make a deep Doha run, it was still a very positive run for her since she managed to beat a top-20 player for the first time in nearly three years. In Dubai, several top players are set to compete and there is a strong chance Kenin will be drawn to play a big name in the United Arab Emirates. It remains to be seen how well can Kenin do next week in Dubai.
