DUBAI (Aletihad)
The organising committee of Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge announced that the 28th edition will be held from 1-7 December at the Habtoor Grande Resort in Dubai, with 80 players taking part.
Ukrainian Daria Snigur, a runner-up in 2019 went on to win the singles crown in 2021, is the only former champion who has confirmed her entry at this annual tournament. But heading the field is Austrian Julia Grabher with a WTA Ranking of No.92, alongside Latvia’s Darja Semenistaja (No.94) and Dubai regular Dalma Galfi of Hungary (No.96).
Among the top challengers will be the wild cards and former top stars Kristina Mladenovic and Vera Zvonareva. French girl Mladenovic – who has made Dubai her home since the past few years – was a former world No.1 in doubles and a best singles ranking of world No.10.
Mladenovic, 32, is a nine-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2016 and 2022 French Open women’s doubles titles partnering Caroline Garcia, and the 2018 Australian Open, 2019 and 2020 French Opens and 2020 Australian Open with Timea Babos.
Former world No.2 Zvonareva, who turned 41 earlier this year, will be turning up again for this annual tournament that has a prize money of $100,000. The main draw begins December 1.
The top players, meanwhile, come in to Dubai with some notable performances during the year. The 29-year-old Grabher won her second WTA 125 title in October 2025, claiming the trophy at the Florianopolis Open in Brazil, defeating Carole Monnet in the final and marking her return to the top 100 for the first time since November 2023.
Currently the second seed on the list, Semenistaja qualified to make her major debut at the US Open, losing to Peyton Stearns in the first round. But, the Latvian managed to reach the top 100 at world No.90 in the rankings in the second half of October 2025, following her title run at the Les Franqueses del Valles W100 event.
The third-placed Dalma Galfi of Hungary, the 2015 ITF Junior World Champion, will be another player to watch out for. The 27-year-old has had a pretty solid season winning her first WTA 125 title at the Oeiras Ladies Open in April and then claiming the WTA 125 Catalonia Open the following week.
The experienced pick of the lot will be former champion Snigur. In 2024, Snigur achieved her best Tour results on her favourite surface of grass at Wimbledon and Nottingham. She also made it to the main draw at the Australian Open.
Included in the long list of past champions are former Grand Slam winners and top-class players such as Sorana Cirstea (2020), Ana Bogdan (2019), Peng Shuai (2018), Belinda Bencic (2017), Kimiko Date-Krumm (2012), Sania Mirza (2010), Maria Kirilenko (2007), Kateryna Bondarenko (2006), Marion Bartoli (2005), Jelena Jankovic (2003) and inaugural winner Kyra Nagy (1998).