From February 8-14, 2026, the Qatar Open will take place as the first WTA 1000 of the season and for many the first action post the Australian Open.
Iga Swiatek has previously made this title hers with three in a row, she will aim for four over the next week. Elena Rybakina is slated to play in her first tournament after winning the Australian Open with the near entirety of the top 32 entered apart from Naomi Osaka who has had to withdraw due to an abdominal injury.
Amanda Anisimova is the defending champion sealing the title last year defeating Jelena Ostapenko in the final. It began what can best be described as the year of Amanda with the American who is now World No.4 surging after this to become a real force on the WTA Tour.
Entry List Qatar Open 2026
(as per TickTockTennis)
| # | Player | Age | Ctry |
| 1 | Aryna Sabalenka | 27 | BLR |
| 2 | Iga Świątek | 24 | POL |
| 3 | Elena Rybakina | 26 | KAZ |
| 4 | Amanda Anisimova | 24 | USA |
| 5 | Coco Gauff | 21 | USA |
| 6 | Jessica Pegula | 31 | USA |
| 7 | Mirra Andreeva | 18 | RUS |
| 8 | Jasmine Paolini | 30 | ITA |
| 9 | Belinda Bencic | 28 | SUI |
| 10 | Elina Svitolina | 31 | UKR |
| 11 | Ekaterina Alexandrova | 31 | RUS |
| 12 | Linda Nosková | 21 | CZE |
| 13 | Victoria Mboko | 19 | CAN |
| 15 | Madison Keys | 30 | USA |
| 16 | Clara Tauson | 23 | DEN |
| 17 | Emma Navarro | 24 | USA |
| 18 | Ludmilla Samsonova | 27 | RUS |
| 19 | Karolína Muchová | 29 | CZE |
| 20 | Iva Jovic | 18 | USA |
| 21 | Diana Shnaider | 21 | RUS |
| 22 | Elise Mertens | 30 | BEL |
| 24 | Jeļena Ostapenko | 28 | LAT |
| 25 | Leylah Fernandez | 23 | CAN |
| 26 | Qinwen Zheng | 23 | CHN |
| 27 | Sofia Kenin | 27 | USA |
| 28 | Maya Joint | 19 | AUS |
| 29 | Emma Raducanu | 23 | GBR |
| 30 | Anna Kalinskaya | 27 | RUS |
| 31 | Markéta Vondroušová | 26 | CZE |
| 32 | Mccartney Kessler | 26 | USA |
| 33 | Xinyu Wang | 24 | CHN |
| 34 | Loïs Boisson | 22 | FRA |
| 35 | Jaqueline Cristian | 27 | ROU |
| 36 | Sorana Cîrstea | 35 | ROU |
| 37 | Marie Bouzková | 27 | CZE |
| 38 | Veronika Kudermetova | 28 | RUS |
| 52 | Barbora Krejčíková | 30 | CZE |
| 54 | Tatjana Maria | 38 | GER |
| 65 | Paula Badosa | 28 | ESP |
| 100 | Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova | 34 | RUS |
| 416 | Karolína Plíšková | 33 | CZE |
When is the draw confirmed for Qatar Open?
The draw will be confirmed likely on around February 5, a few days before the tournament starts the following Monday.
When is the schedule confirmed for Qatar Open?
The schedule will likely be confirmed on February 7 ahead of the February 8 start. When confirmed it will be updated here.
Predictions
Samuel Gill, Head Editor for TennisUpToDate.com sees Amanda Anisimova retaining her title.
I don't like foreseeing this but I would not be shocked for one if multiple big names end up not playing this at all anyway due to the proximity of the Australian Open.
Elena Rybakina I do expect though to be involved. Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys as previous winners of the Australian Open have taken breaks when it comes to the tournaments after and given her disappointment, I wouldn't be shocked to see Sabalenka on a beach somewhere instead of in Qatar.
Amanda Anisimova had a bit of a meltdown in her loss in Melbourne which went semi-viral and I expect her to come back and win here. It began the year of Amanda last year and I expect her, Iga Swiatek due to her brilliance here as well as Mirra Andreeva to shine.
Andreeva has been terrific in 2026 sans the Svitolina loss in Australia so I expect a bounce back. Also expect Victoria Mboko and Belinda Bencic to perform well, the latter plays this week so will be ready for action.
*** Amanda Anisimova
** Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek
* Mirra Andreeva, Victoria Mboko, Belinda Bencic
Lucas Michael, Editor for TennisUpToDate.com otherwise sees Iga Swiatek returning to her best.
The Qatar Open is the first WTA 1000 event of the year, with the top 10 in the world all there to compete for glory.
The usual suspects will be contesting for glory, with world number one Aryna Sabalenka looking to continue her incredible form in 2026 after reaching a fourth consecutive Australian Open final. Her and Elena Rybakina are currently the two standout players on the WTA Tour, separating themselves from the competition since the WTA Finals last year, and many people would not bet against one of them from taking home the title.
The same can be said for Amanda Anisimova. Last year’s champion has a lot of points to defend from the scene of her first WTA 1000 title. She will be hoping to recuperate as many of them as possible, but the title would be the dream. She is not the only American heavily touted for glory. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula had mixed success Down Under, with Gauff’s struggles overshadowing another Grand Slam quarter-final. She will be hoping to put those right in similar fashion to her Wuhan Open triumph last year.
While she is not at her best, you can never count out Iga Swiatek. If she can find her A-game, she knows how to win in Qatar more than anyone else with her winning three titles in a row between 2022 and 2024.
It is a lottery between all of them, but I am going to stray away from the two standout players in Sabalenka and Rybakina and opt for Swiatek to repeat her form in the Middle East and win a fourth title in five years.
*** Iga Swiatek
** Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula
* Amanda Anisimova, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff
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- Liars! Liars! She lives in Russia god damn it! Russsssssia!!!!!
- MEDICAL TIME OUTS SHOULD TO BE ABOLISHED IN THE SPORT OF TENNIS. BECAUSE IT IS MAINLY BEING USED AS A FORM OF CHEATING. THERE ISN'T ANYTHING WRONG WITH A PLAYER WHEN AFTER A TIMEOUT, HE OR SHE IS STILL RUNNING ALL OVER THE COURT AND SERVING ACES. IF SOMEONE IS HURT, THAT MEANS THEY CANNOT CONTINUE. THEREFORE, THE MATCH SHOULD BE FORFEITED. TENNIS IS FULL OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION.
- Pegula will never beat any of the top players, in a Slam final, because the draw riggers have no confidence that she can even play tennis. Which is the reason why every tournament, her entire draw consist of opponents from the KIDDIE department. Just like Iga, Sabalenka, and some of the other tops on tour, they consistenly get hard draws, which helps them get better. When someone has to cheat to help you, it only weakens you as a players. Because you do not know what part of your game needs improvement.
- Those Doping Agents are controlled by the American Government. It an American players test is hot, they are going to sweep it under the carpet.
- Djokovic is the GOAT. He has the most Slams. Simple as that.
- "It’s difficult to say we don’t agree” Correction: It’s difficult to say [ I ] don’t agree. While she is an intelligent and well educated person, she may not be all that aware of certain character flaws. Perhaps a psychologist or ten might be of some help?
- Sabalenka should ignore that nonsense and continue doing what she does. The sport of tennis has been corrupted by the American government. And America is the most racist country on earth. It is clear that some players are being targeted for discrimination based on their nationality. Screaming hasn't just start in tennis. Sharapova, Serena, etc. always did scream and nothing was said. You cannot control ignorance.
- If she wants privacy, then she should quit tennis. The same thing happened to Sabalenka at the US Open after she loss the final, and no one was talking about privacy. Instead they criticized Sabalenka. Anyone who knows Gauff is well aware that she is a sore loser and cannot control her anger after a loss. You cannot tell someone where to place their cameras. She needs to separate herself from her parents and GROW UP. She is 21 years old.
- Coco is a sore loser. She does that all the time. At least now, she goes behind closed doors, instead of interrupting the matches with her meltdown. The same thing happened to Sabalenka at the US Open. The only difference is, Sabalenka knows how to handle things like an adult. Gauff on the other hand needs to GROW UP. She is 21 and she needs to act like it. There is no way you can play a sport and cannot stand to lose.
- No one is interested in seeing her. She is not going to do anything but cheat a younger player out of a wildcard and lose in the first round. If their lives is that miserable and they want to return, let them go thru qualifications like everyone else.
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