Mladenovic gets wild card for Al Habtoor Challenge

Former top stars Kristina Mladenovic and Vera Zvonareva will be among the challengers for the singles crown as the 28th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge gets under way at the Habtoor Grand Resort in Mina Seyahi from Nov.30.

The two former top players will be joined by promising teenager Vendula Valdmannova from the Czech Republic and Great Britain’s Freya Christie as the four wild cards at this annual tournament featuring on the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour Calendar.

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.

The 32-year-old 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.

Hungarian teen Valdmannova is perhaps among the most exciting young faces on the circuit. Due to turn 18 just after the end of this event next weekend, Valdmannova’s best ITF Junior Ranking was No. 15 in September last year. Partnering Kristina Penickova, Valdmannova won the girls doubles title at Wimbledon this year, and her best Grand Slam performance came last year when she lost in the girls singles semi-finals in The Championships in July 2024.

The Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge tournament committee led by tournament director Noura Badawi also decided on the five wild cards for the qualifying rounds that will get under way from Nov.30.

Hungary’s Eszter Finak will be joined by two Slovakian players Viktoria Morvayova and Nina Vargova, Seven Oral from Turkey and Great Britain’s Mika Stojsavlevic. The wild cards for the doubles will be announced on Dec.1.

“This group of girls is probably the best players we have on offer with requests for wild cards. We have balanced experience and youth when it comes to choosing the wild cards. This tournament has always been supportive of women tennis players and the results are there to be seen since the first event was held in 1998,” Tournament Director Noura Badawi stated.

“We believe we are on the right road to success, and with the guidance and blessings of our chairman Khalaf Al Habtoor we will surely see untapped talent rising through our tournament,” she added.

This year’s competition has attracted a strong field that includes three top-100 players along with former champion Daria Snigur of Ukraine, among others.

Austrian Julia Grabher with a WTA Ranking of No.92 will be the top seed, alongside Latvia’s Darja Semenistaja (No.94) and Dubai regular Dalma Galfi of Hungary (No.96) as No. 2 and 3. Completing the top-five line-up will be Anastasia Zakharova at No.101 followed by Austria’s Sinja Kraus at No.105.

The Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge began as a $25,000 (Dhs91,250) event that was later classified as a $75,000 tournament between 1999 to 2015. In 2016, the event was upgraded to a $100,000+H competition on the ITF Women’s Circuit.

The brainchild of Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, Founding Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group, the annual tournament has managed to live up to its hype of encouraging the development of women’s tennis in the UAE and the region, while raising the profile of the sport across the Arab world.

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).

The first day of singles qualifying rounds will be on November 30, while the main draw singles will commence from December 1.