Kim Clijsters will launch her much-anticipated second comeback to tennis at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships starting February 17th in United Arab Emirates. The former world No.1 and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame will contest the Premier-level tournament as a wildcard and it will be her first appearance there, fittingly, as the event celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Two and a half months ago, Clijsters announced that the third leg of her storied career would commence at the Monterrey Open in March, but the tennis community is lucky to see the Belgian earlier, at one of the biggest tournaments on tour.
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships traditionally boasts an incredible line-up, but this time there will be no top-ranked player Ashleigh Barty, who has withdrawn due to a right foot injury. As a side note, world No.4 Elina Svitolina will compete as a wildcard, since the Ukrainian had forgotten to apply for the event and realized that only when she read it in the news, when during the Australian Swing someone tagged her on Twitter that she was not in the list.
