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Maria Sakkari, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka and Ipek Oz have all received main draw wildcards into next week's WTA 500 event in Doha, per Michal Samulski.
Sakkari, ranked at No 7 in the world, is set to make her fifth main draw appearance in Doha.WTA500 Doha main draw wildcards:
Maria Sakkari
Sofia Kenin
Victoria Azarenka
Ipek Oz — Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) February 10, 2023
Sakkari's best Doha result came last year, when she made the semifinal before losing to Iga Swiatek. Kenin, 24, is set to make her third Doha appearance. Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, didn't impress in her first two Doha appearances - the American suffered a Doha second-round loss in 2020, while she exited the Doha event in the first round a year ago.
Azarenka, a former world No 1, is set to make her seventh appearance on the hard courts of Doha. Throughout her career, Azarenka has had success in Doha. Azarenka captured back-to-back Doha titles in 2012 and 2013, while she was the runner-up at the tournament in 2015.
Oz, 23, is set to make her second consecutive appearance in Doha. Last year, Oz picked up a Doha first-round loss against Madison Brengle.
Sakkari, Kenin & Azarenka set to challenge Iga Swiatek
The Doha event is set to feature some of the biggest names of the game, including world No 1 Swiatek.
Unfortunately, there is one big name that will be missing at this year's Doha event - Ons Jabeur. This week, Jabeur announced she was withdrawing from Doha and Dubai to undergo a minor surgery. "In order to take care of my health situation, my medical team have decided that I need to get a minor surgery in order to be able to be back on the courts and perform well.
I will have to retire from Doha and Dubai and this is breaking my heart. I would like to say sorry to all the fans out there in the Middle East that waited for this reunion. I promise I will come back to you stronger and healthy," Jabeur wrote on her social media. But even without Jabeur, Doha is set to feature a star-studded player field.