Newly-crowned World Number 1 Victoria Azarenka from Belarus will take to the courts alongside other top-seeded players including last year’s winner, Russian Vera Zvonareva and the world’s former top player, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki.
Azarenka earned the number one spot last month after winning the Australian Open women’s singles title – her first Grand Slam.
The week-long tournament, from February 13 – 19, takes places at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in the Qatari capital Doha, attracting more than 50 tennis professionals from over 25 countries. The final will be played on centre court on Sunday 19 February.
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said that the airline was proud to once again be part of the prestigious tournament, the second leading tennis event of the year in Doha after some of the world’s best men’s players competed in early January.
“Alongside the recently held Qatar ExxonMobil Open, we are proud to be associated with events that bring the world’s best sporting talent to Doha,” he said.
“We look forward to hosting these amazing tennis stars from the women’s circuit in our city of Doha over the next few days and offer the warm hospitality that our country is so renowned for.”
Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 104 aircraft to 112 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America. Last year was a landmark 12 months for Qatar Airways, which inducted 15 new destinations to its network, and won the coveted Skytrax Airline of the Year Award.
As part of its 2012 expansion programme, Qatar Airways recently launched flights to the European capital cities of Tbilisi in Georgia and Baku in Azerbaijan.
The Doha-based carrier will launch scheduled flights to a further seven destinations this year – Kigali (Rwanda) from March 21; Zagreb (Croatia) from May 9; Perth (Australia) from July 3; with dates yet to be announced for other new routes – Mombasa (Kenya), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Helsinki (Finland), and Gassim (Saudi Arabia).
Qatar Airways currently has orders worth over US$50 billion for more than 250 aircraft, including Boeing 787s, 777s, Airbus A350s, A380s and A320 Family of aircraft.
Skytrax is the only global independent passenger survey monitoring airline standards and is considered the ultimate benchmark for excellence in the airline industry. In addition to winning Skytrax’s prestigious Airline of the Year 2011 award last summer, Qatar Airways was named Best Airline in the Middle East for the sixth year in a row, and its Premium Terminal at Doha International Airport was named Best First Class Airline Lounge. For more information, visit www.qatarairways.com
Corporate Communications Department, Qatar Airways
Tel: +974 – 44302072, Fax: +974 – 44302069
E-mail: qrmedia@qatarairways.com.qa
Web: www.qatarairways.com