Last year, Poland’s Iga Swiatek once again lifted the falcon – a remarkable week where she lost only FIVE GAMES to make it back-to-back Doha triumphs. As fate would have it, she only had to play three matches to defend the title.

Following a 1st-Round Bye, the World #1 opened with a 6-0, 6-1 rout of Danielle Collins. In the Quarters, Belinda Bencic – who had just won the title in Abu Dhabi – withdrew after a deciding-set clash with Victoria Azarenka the night prior. In the Semifinals, Swiatek slaughtered Veronika Kudermetova, again dropping only a single game.

Jessica Pegula managed a hold and two breaks in set-1 of the Final, but that was it. Behind Iga’s third 6-0 set of the tournament, the World #1 joined Victoria Azarenka (2012, 2013) and Anastasia Myskina (2003, 2004) as one of only three players to capture back-to-back Qatar TotalEnergies Open titles.

In fact, nearly all top-50 WTA talents signed-on for the 22nd installment of the season’s first WTA-1000 event. The only names missing: 2020 Doha Champion Aryna Sabalenka, who just defended her Australian Open title – last year’s Singles Finalist and Doubles Champion Jessica Pegula, who hasn’t played since her 2nd-Round loss at the Australian Open – Madison Keys, who’s recovering from a shoulder injury – along with 2-time champion Petra Kvitova and Belinda Bencic, who are both on maternity leave.

Other late withdrawals include World #10 Karolina Muchova, who’s ongoing wrist troubles continue to keep her off the court. In fact, Muchova hasn’t returned since her inspired run to the 2023 US Open Semifinals. Teenage talent Mirra Andreeva also withdrew due to wrist issues. Meanwhile, World #20 Elina Svitolina backed-out a few hours before the Draw, opening a Round-1 “Lucky Loser” position – giving this year’s top-ranked losing qualifier a second chance.

Notably, 4-time Major Champion Naomi Osaka – who’s finally back on tour after having daughter (Shai) last July – will return to Doha as a direct-entry with a special ranking of World #46.

In all, the field of talent features 13 former Doha champions:

WORLD #4 JESSIE PEGULA WILL BE MISSED

Like Iga Swiatek – this year, many were hoping to see the doubles tandem of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula make it three consecutive Doha titles. 2022’s Qatar TotalEnergies Open was a launching pad for the team. It was just their fourth event together, first title as a team. Since then, they captured 5 doubles titles (two here in Doha), and reached 8 finals – including the Roland Garros Final in 2022.

At last year’s event, Jessica became only the fifth player in tournament history to reach Doha’s championship match in both Singles and Doubles. Others who’ve accomplished the feat: Sadrine Testud (2001 Doubles Champion, Singles Finalist), Svetlana Kuznetsova (2004 Doubles Champion, Singles Finalist), Alicia Molik (Doubles Champion, Singles Finalist), and Carla Suarez Navarro (2016 Singles Champion, Doubles Finalist).

To this day, no player has won both titles in the same year.

The Singles main draw includes 44 direct entries, along with 8 Qualifiers and 4 Wild Cards. Meanwhile, the Doubles draw includes 32 teams, including one Wild Card tandem.

SINGLES QUALIFYING

Begins Saturday, February 10th with a field of 32 talents, including four qualifying Wild Cards. As a WTA-1000 tournament, 8 qualifiers will earn entry into the main draw. After the first round on Saturday, the final round of qualifying will coincide with Day-1 of main draw action Sunday.

SINGLES MAIN DRAW,

WTA-1000 tournaments include a “field of 64.” However, the top-8 seeds receive a 1st-Round Bye – in other words, the top-8 talents don’t play until Round-2. Therefore, in reality, Doha’s main draw features a field of 56 talents.

The top-8 talents need five consecutive match victories to lift Doha’s prized falcon. The rest of the direct-entry players require six. Meanwhile, qualifiers will have to win eight straight matches to emerge the 2024 Qatar TotalEnergies Open champion.

Round-1 (24 matches) will be played on Sunday and Monday, followed by Round-2 (16 matches) on Tuesday, Round-3 (8 matches) on Wednesday, the Quarterfinals on Thursday, the Singles Semifinals and Doubles Final Friday, then the Singles Championship on Saturday.

DOUBLES TOURNAMENT

The draw includes a field of 32 teams. For talents competing in both singles and doubles, daily matches will be strategically scheduled throughout the week to ensure these players first compete in singles before playing their doubles match.

Total prize purse for this year’s tournament: $3,211,715.00.