Women's main draw play at the 2026 Qatar Open will begin Sunday, Feb. 8 from Doha, Qatar. The Qatar Open is the first of 10 WTA 1000 level events on the 2026 calendar. This outdoor hard-court tournament has a 56-player draw with byes for the top eight seeds and features most of the top players on the WTA Tour. Seven of the top 10 players in the WTA rankings are in the draw, with the exception of Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and Belinda Bencic. Below are the top title contenders, dark horses and sleepers for the 2026 Qatar Open.
Favorite to Win the 2026 Qatar Open
Elena Rybakina: Rybakina is the No. 2 seed, but she looks like the player to beat in Doha, especially without Sabalenka in the draw. The big-serving Rybakina defeated Sabalenka in the championship matches of the last two big hard-court WTA events, first winning the WTA Finals to close out 2025 and then claiming her second career Grand Slam title at this year's Australian Open. Her march to the title in Melbourne included a 7-5, 6-1 quarterfinal win over Iga Swiatek, who is the No. 1 seed at the Qatar Open. Rybakina's chalk opponents at the Qatar Open are No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider in the Round of 16, No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff in the semifinals.
In the Mix to Win the 2026 Qatar Open
Iga Swiatek: Swiatek won this
Women's main draw play at the 2026 Qatar Open will begin Sunday, Feb. 8 from Doha, Qatar. The Qatar Open is the first of 10 WTA 1000 level events on the 2026 calendar. This outdoor hard-court tournament has a 56-player draw with byes for the top eight seeds and features most of the top players on the WTA Tour. Seven of the top 10 players in the WTA rankings are in the draw, with the exception of Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and Belinda Bencic. Below are the top title contenders, dark horses and sleepers for the 2026 Qatar Open.
Favorite to Win the 2026 Qatar Open
Elena Rybakina: Rybakina is the No. 2 seed, but she looks like the player to beat in Doha, especially without Sabalenka in the draw. The big-serving Rybakina defeated Sabalenka in the championship matches of the last two big hard-court WTA events, first winning the WTA Finals to close out 2025 and then claiming her second career Grand Slam title at this year's Australian Open. Her march to the title in Melbourne included a 7-5, 6-1 quarterfinal win over Iga Swiatek, who is the No. 1 seed at the Qatar Open. Rybakina's chalk opponents at the Qatar Open are No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider in the Round of 16, No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff in the semifinals.
In the Mix to Win the 2026 Qatar Open
Iga Swiatek: Swiatek won this tournament in 2022, 2023 and 2024 before having her reign ended in the 2025 semifinals by Jelena Ostapenko. The top-seeded Pole prefers clay but is clearly a fan of the hard-court conditions at this event judging by her favorable history at the Qatar Open. Iga could face No. 16 seed Elise Mertens in the Round of 16, then No. 6 Jasmine Paolini or No. 9 Linda Noskova in the quarterfinals before a potential semifinal showdown with defending Qatar Open champion Amanda Anisimova.
Amanda Anisimova: Anisimova's 2025 breakout began with her title at the Qatar Open, and she returns to Doha one year later as the world's fourth-ranked player. Seeded No. 3 in Sabalenka's absence, Anisimova lands in the same half of the draw as Swiatek, who served up a pair of bagels to Anisimova in the Wimbledon final before the American exacted some revenge with a win over Swiatek at the U.S. Open. Anisimova's powerful groundstrokes and elite timing could be put to the test by crafty No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova in the Round of 16 and surging No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals.
Mirra Andreeva: The fifth-seeded Andreeva gets the nod as a top contender over No. 4 seed Coco Gauff, as Gauff has lost her last three matches at the Qatar Open and has never advanced past the quarterfinals of this tournament. This will be the second Qatar Open appearance for the 18-year-old Andreeva, who won a pair of hard-court WTA 1000 titles in 2025. She has a 2-1 career head-to-head edge over Rybakina, which could come into play in their potential quarterfinal meeting. Prior to that point, Andreeva could face No. 10 seed Victoria Mboko in a Round of 16 battle between two of the WTA Tour's brightest young stars.
Sleepers to Win the 2026 Qatar Open
Elina Svitolina: Svitolina has the best chance of claiming the Qatar Open title among players outside the top five seeds. The seventh-seeded Ukrainian is off to a 10-1 start in 2025, with the lone loss coming against Sabalenka in the semifinals of the Australian Open after Svitolina defeated Andreeva and Gauff. Svitolina has been a perennial contender hanging around the top 10, and she's showing no signs of slowing down at age 31. She's the potential quarterfinal opponent for Anisimova, and Svitolina has struggling 12th-seeded American Emma Navarro as her chalk opponent in the Round of 16.
Karolina Muchova: Muchova is one of the toughest outs on the WTA Tour when healthy. She has made it past the second round of only five Grand Slam events since the start of 2023 but reached at least the semifinals in three of those five events, so Muchova's tough to beat once she settles into her game. She's 6-2 to begin 2026, with a win over Rybakina and respectable losses to Sabalenka and Gauff. Muchova could face Anisimova in the Round of 16 here in what would be an intriguing clash of styles between Anisimova's power and Muchova's ability to disrupt rhythm with net approaches, slices and touch.
Jelena Ostapenko: Ostapenko's unseeded here, but the world No. 24 is capable of catching fire and making a deep run at any tournament with her high-risk, high-reward approach off the ground. She has a history of strong performances at the Qatar Open, reaching the final twice (including last year) and adding another semifinal showing. Ostapenko landed in a relatively open section of the draw, matching up with No. 8 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round if the Latvian can get past 107th-ranked Anastasia Zakharova in the first round, with a chance to eventually face Gauff in the quarterfinals.
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