A NEW year brings with it new hope and that is certainly the case for the WTA Tour as a brand-new looking logo and colour scheme to kick-start 2021. In what is a fitting opening to the season, a first-time tournament in Abu Dhabi will take place, with a fairly stacked draw of primarily European players taking to the hard courts in a massive 64-player WTA 500 event. The events have been renamed to match that of the ATP Tour, and the January 5-13 event is set to provide plenty of highlights from the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

Australian Open reigning champion Sofia Kenin will headline the draw and stands as the number one seed. The only American player inside the Top 10 seeds, Kenin will begin her Melbourne Court defence in the U.A.E before heading Down Under. Having also reached the Roland Garros final before losing to Iga Swiatek, it is fair to say Kenin will start as a favourite at the event, back on her preferred hard court surface.

Also at the event is Elina Svitolina, with the Ukrainian keen to continue her good form from early in 2020 and build some good form against quality opponents. The Ukrainian is no stranger to success early in the year, having won in Dubai twice, as well as Brisbane, and then added two more titles last year at Monterrey and then later on, Strasbourg. Now 26-years-old, Svitolina is chasing a Grand Slam title to go with her WTA Finals win back in 2018, and given her success in Dubai, has no fears playing in the conditions.

Despite what she would classify as a disappointing year by her own standards, Karolina Pliskova is a talent who can never be discounted. Having reached the Rome final, Pliskova unfortunately had to retire due to injury, then bowed out in the second round at Roland Garros and lost her first match in Ostrava to end the year wit a 1-3 record from her final four matches. Prior to her injury she built some good form at Rome, and is always a challenger early in the season.

One player who had no such late season form issues was rising star, Aryna Sabalenka. The pure power hitter from Belarus blasted her way to titles in Ostrava and Linz, winning nine consecutive matches to round out the year. At one stage she looked destined to lose to Coco Gauff in the second round at Ostrava, then was a point away from being 6-0 5-0 down against Sara Sorribes Tormo but found a way back a match later. Since then, she cleaned up US Open semi-finalist Jennifer Brady, finalist Victoria Azarenka, and Top 25 player Elise Mertens among a number of other rising stars.

The likes of Mertens and Brady are also competing in Abu Dhabi and have to be considered when talking about contenders, though who could discount the youth and rising star status of Elena Rybakina. The Kazakhstan native made five finals last year, and while her winning record in those finals was not ideal (1-4), she showed she can go deep in big events, and will be one to watch here. Her compatriot, Yulia Putintseva will also compete, as well Australian Open runner-up Garbine Muguruza and 2019 Roland Garros runner-up Marketa Vondrousova.

Rounding out the the Top 25 players are Swiss talent Belinda Bencic, Greek up-and-comer Maria Sakkari, and the ever-dangerous Estonian, Anett Kontaveit. The big challenge will be the time off, with the likes of Sabalenka having the least time being tournaments, but still having a two-month break, while others could have had three months or more depending on if they finished up at Roland Garros or avoided the clay season. One thing is for sure, every match practice will count when heading to the Australian Open given some, like Ash Barty, have not played in 12 months.