On February 18, Beijing time, the WTA1000 Dubai main match signing form was released. As the first WTA1000-level event of the year, this year's Dubai was star-studded, with all the top 20 players participating except for Abdul-Jabbar, who was absent due to injury, and Halep, who was suspended. In terms of Chinese players, Zhang Shuai and Zheng Qinwen will play in the women's singles main event.
Zhang Shuai and Zheng Qinwen will stage a Golden Derby in the first round, the second meeting between the two, having met once in ITF Dubai in 2021, where Zheng won over Zhang Shuai in three sets. There is also a very important highlight of this game, that is, the battle between the two golden flowers and a sister. The point gap between the two is only 111 points, and Zheng Qinwen has a chance to surpass Zhang Shuai after this station.
The winners of Zhang Shuai and Zheng Qinwen will face the winner of Spain's Badosa and 14th-seeded Samsonova in the second round. Whoever makes it through will be a tough fight. If they can move forward, they could face top seed Sviatek or former US Open runner-up Fernandez in the third round.
In addition to the showdown between Zhang Shuai and Zheng Qinwen, the first round of the match also has the following focus battles. Two-time Grand Slam champion Azarenka will face former French Open runner-up Pavlyuchenkova, with Lebakina and Andreescu set to face off between the Grand Slam champions, with former French Open runner-up Wanzosova and former world number one Karp staging a Czech civil war.
The seeded players are matched as follows: top seed Swiatek against 14th seed Samsonova, 10th seed Kudmetova against No. 6 seed Sakkari, No. 4 seed Garcia against No. 15 seed Azarenka, No. 9 seed Lebakina against No. 5 seed Gauff, No. 8 seed Bencic against No. 11 seed Maya, No. 16 seed Alexandrova against No. 3 seed Pegula, No. 7 seed Kasakina against No. 12 seed Kvitova, No. 13 seed Ostapenko against No. 2 seed Sabalenka.