February 05, 2019 - Dubai, UAE

Australian No. 1 Ashleigh Barty is expected to be a strong contender for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships trophy when play gets underway on 17th February. She climbed to a new career high of 14 after the Australian Open, following victory over then world No. 1 Simona Halep on the way to her second successive Sydney final, which was followed by a win over Maria Sharapova in Melbourne that earned her a place in the quarter-finals of her home Grand Slam. On both occasions it took the spectacular talents of Petra Kvitova to end her run.