Swiatek vs. Sabalenka in Dubai? Alcaraz begins defending his 2022 turf; can he repeat in Rio?

WATCH: An interview with Iga

It’s the third week of February and the tours have settled in a groove. Or a set of grooves. The month is a series of geographical mini-swings. There’s the Arabian swing; this week the women are in Dubai, while the men make their first appearance on the peninsula in Doha. There’s the Euro-indoor swing, which moves out of Rotterdam and into Marseille. And there’s the Golden Swing in South America; the men travel from Buenos Aires to Rio, while the women join them in Mérida, Mexico.

The most significant of these tournaments is Dubai, which hosts the first WTA 1000 of 2023, and where the tour’s top two, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, could face off for the first time this year. So we’ll start there.

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (WTA)

• Dubai, UAE
• $2,788,468; WTA 1000
• Hard court
• Draw is here

1000s are supposed to be condensed Grand Slams, and that’s what Dubai looks like. There are 56 players instead of 128, but nine of the Top 10 and 16 of the Top 18 will be in action—the only notable absentee is Ons Jabeur, who just had “minor surgery” on her knee.

The headliners are Swiatek and Sabalenka. Swiatek is still the tour’s reigning No. 1, and she was back in ominous form in Doha this past week. But Sabalenka won their last meeting, and she’s a newly minted major champion. If we’re looking for a WTA rivalry for 2023, this is the matchup that could deliver.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, there’s a lot more good tennis to be played in Dubai. Almost all of the tour’s relevant figures—including Jessica Pegula, Caroline Garcia, Belinda Bencic, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko and Victoria Azarenka—are here.

First-round matches to watch:

• Rybakina vs. Bianca Andreescu
• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Paula Badosa
• Danielle Collins vs. Linda Fruhvirtova

Rio Open (ATP)

• Rio de Janeiro
• $2,178,980; ATP 500
• Red clay
• Draw is here

Has it really just been a year since Carlos Alcaraz won his first 500-level title—and the second of his career at any level—in Rio? He’s gone much farther since, of course, but the 19-year-old’s vault to the top began here 12 months ago. Which means he’ll begin a new phase of his career this week, when he starts to defend the ground he gained in 2022.

If anyone is prepared to do it, it would seem to be Alcaraz. With a teenager’s trademark energy, he bounced back from an early-season injury this week in Buenos Aires and straight into the winner’s circle. While Rio is a higher-level tournament, it has a similar draw. Cam Norrie—whom Alcaraz just beat in the final—and Lorenzo Musetti are the second and third seeds, and Dominic Thiem is here with a protected ranking. Alcaraz will start against Brazilian wild card Mateus Alves.

Qatar Exxonmobil Open (ATP)

• Doha, Qatar
• $1,485,775; ATP 250
• Hard court
• Draw is here

Doha is only a 250, but it does have a significant purse, and it leads into the 500 in Dubai next week. Hence, it also has a solid draw. Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev are the top four seeds.

Player of Interest: Jiri Lehecka. This is the Czech’s first tour appearance since reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

First-round match to watch: Andy Murray vs. Lorenzo Sonego. The winner will play Zverev.

Open 13 (ATP)

• Marseille, France
• $960,000; ATP 250
• Indoor hard court
• Draw is here

Some of the guys left Rotterdam for Doha, others made the shorter trip to the week’s other 250, in Marseille. A few of them—Jannik Sinner, Alex de Minaur, Grigor Dimitrov and Maxime Cressy—have had highlight performances this month. Especially Sinner, who has played on consecutive Sundays in Montpellier and Rotterdam.

Can he do it a third time? He could face 18-year-old French sensation-in-the-making Arthur Fils in his first match.

Mérida Open Akron (WTA)

• Mérida, Mexico
• $259,303; WTA 250
• Hard court
• Draw is here

Last month in Melbourne, Magda Linette made her first first Grand Slam semifinal at age 31. This month she’ll reap the ranking-point benefits when she makes a rare appearance as a top seed in Mérida.

But even that high seeding hasn’t protected her from a pretty tough early draw. Linette will start against Camila Osoria, and could play Jule Niemeier in the second round.