After a thrilling Abu Dhabi Open last week, the women’s tour continues its journey through the Middle East, whilst the men battle it out in Europe and the Americas. Here’s who to look out for this week.
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Players In Form
Alex de Minaur
Alex de Minaur really seems to be in the form of his life at the start of this year. The standout name going into the Australian Open after a brilliant victory over Novak Djokovic to knock Serbia out of the United cup just a week prior to the tournament starting.
He showed a good display to reach the round of 16 of his home slam, and in doing so reached his peak of world number 10.
He’ll be looking to regain that placement with a victory in The Netherlands, where he’s the fifth seed behind the likes of AO winner Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev
Zheng Qinwen
The Chinese player seemingly came from nowhere this season to reach the final of the Australian Open, eventually falling to Number 2 Sabalenka in straight sets.
And while admittedly Zheng had what would be considered a favorable run in the tournament, not playing anyone in the top 50 until the final, the achievement cannot be understated and has put her in great stead to take this season by storm.
She’s the fifth seed in the Qatar Open, and with 1000 ranking points up for grabs, she has the opportunity to really throw herself into the mix with the big hitters, especially with some of them suffering a false start in 2024.
Jannik Sinner
It wont surprise many to see the Italian on this list in his first tournament since his maiden Grand Slam victory.
The World number 4 is truly in the form of his life, and with Rotterdam on the same surface as Australia, it looks inevitable that the Italian will make a run of two trophies this week.
He comes into the tournament as the top seed, and although he’s only one ranking above second seed Andrey Rublev, he seems to be a whole level above the pack at the moment.
Players Out of Form
Naomi Osaka
Many thought Naomi Osaka would find it difficult to reach the dizzying heights of before her mental health break from the sport, but few thought she would struggle so much.
The 4-time grand slam winner crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open in straight sets and has now fallen at the first hurdle once again in Abu Dhabi.
It means she falls to 757 in the world, her lowest ranking of her career.
The 26-year-old has spoke of her struggles to keep belief at the moment, and the tour does not get any easier for her, with a stacked Qatar Open to compete with, her level will have to raise tenfold to have what would be considered a success for the former world number one.
Carlos Alcaraz
This might come as a surprise to a few but we might be comparing Alcaraz to his own lofty standards.
The Spaniard is admittedly not performing as badly as most who have featured on this list before him, but it’s been widely accepted that the former world number one is currently struggling and has been since the Wimbledon victory.
He did record his best Australian Open result, but still only reached the quarter-finals.
But, with Buenos Aires his first matches of the year on his favourite surface, clay, this is the time to finally break the Wimbledon hangover.
Holger Rune
It feels harsh to have Holger Rune in this category for the second time in three weeks, but the Danish player has continued his struggle for form in recent weeks and goes into yet another competition expecting to be challenging for the trophy, this time in Rotterdam.
After his very disappointing Australian Open as mentioned before on here, the 20-year-old failed to secure victory at Montpellier, where he would have at least expected to reach the final.
Instead, he went crashing out to fourth seed Borna Coric, retiring with an injury at one set down, but looking likely to lose the second set at 4-1.
The world number seven will hope to finally get his season going this time round, where he will probably have to battle the pre-mentioned on form Jannik Sinner to have any chance of a title this week.