By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday January 2, 2020

The 2021 WTA season will kick off in style in Abu Dhabi. Celebrating its new “alignment of tournament tiers” with its first ever 500 level event, which is set to begin on January 5.



The Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open will be held at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre.

Highlighting this ultra-stacked field are 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, the World No.4, as well as World No.5 Elina Svitolina, World No.6 Karolina Pliskova and World No.10 Aryna Sabalenka.

Read More: Kenin Parts Way With Top 5 Management After Career Year

The list doesn’t stop there. Keep in mind that this will be the one playing opportunity for the WTA’s top players ahead of the 2021 Australian Open, which begins on February 8, but only after all players have undergone a two-week quarantine in Melbourne, which starts on January 15-16.

Joining that quartet of top 10 players are former Roland Garros champions Garbiñe Muguruza and Svetlana Kuznetsova, along with last year’s WTA win leader Elise Mertens, and rising stars Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova.

World No.22 Maria Sakkari is also on the list, along with Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.