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Barbora Krejčíková, the defending champion at the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championship, will watch on from home with the Czech athlete having withdrawn from the competition, leaving the rest of the world's finest to battle it out for the crown beginning on Monday, February 19 at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre.

The second of a pair of WTA 1000 events played on the hard courts in February, the first being this week's Abu Dhabi Open, will host several of the world's top 10 including Iga Świątek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur, Zheng Qinwen, Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari.

Świątek and Rybakina immediately jump out given they have both reached the semi-finals of WTA 1000 Qatar this week.

Polish world number one Świątek has been dominant on the hard court at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex winning all three of her matches in straight sets – beating Sorana Cîrstea 6-1 6-1, Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1 6-4 and Victoria Azarenka 6-4 6-0.

Świątek boasts four WTA 1000 titles on the surface over the past two years in addition to a 2022 US Open victory and a 2023 WTA Finals triumph, with a further four WTA 500 crowns on her resumé since 2021. The 22-year-old is 96-15 on hard courts since the start of 2022 and owns a career win percentage of 78.49. She was a beaten finalist in Dubai in 2023, losing 6-4 6-2 to Krejčíková.

World number three Rybakina has also showcased her prowess on the hard courts with a jaunt to the semi-finals in Qatar. She has advanced through a much tougher – on paper – bottom half of the draw with wins over Zhu Lin 6-2 6-1, Emma Navarro 6-1 6-7 6-4 and Leyla Fernandez 6-4 6-2.

Rybakina's two wins on the WTA Tour in 2024 – at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open and WTA 500 Brisbane International – were both on the hard court, and she claimed the Indian Wells Open title in 2023. She is 14-2 on the surface in 2024 and has a 66.67-win percentage in her career.

The wildcard into the mix in Dubai is world number two Aryna Sabalenka, who didn't play in WTA 1000 Qatar. The Belarusian is the WTA points leader in 2024 – winning the lone Grand Slam of the season so far at the Australian Open. She also reached the final of the Brisbane International in early-January before losing to Rybakina 6-0 6-3.

The 25-year-old has an incredible 30-3 record in majors since the beginning of 2023 and is very much at home on the hard courts with two Grand Slam titles, three WTA 1000 crowns and seven other WTA Tour victories on the surface. She owns a 236-92 career record and is 67-25 over the past three years.

Outsiders to consider, who have either tasted success on the hard court in 2024 or reached a WTA 500 or 1000 final include Jeļena Ostapenko – winner of the WTA 500 Adelaide International and WTA 500 Linz Open, Emma Navarro. Zheng Qinwen, Daria Kasatkina and Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Qatar Open semi-finalists Karolina Plíšková and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova could also be on the radar - the latter defeated world number eight Vondroušová 7-6 6-3 in the third round in Qatar and hasn't dropped a set so far.