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Iga Swiatek - Australian Open 2024

Qatar Open 2024 Preview: When is it, who is playing and what is the prize money?


The first WTA 1000 event of the year is fastly approaching in the form of the Qatar Open, featuring seven of the top 10 players in the world.

And we, at Tennishead, have got everything you need to know ahead of the 22nd edition of the tournament in the Middle East:

When is the Qatar Open 2024?

The main draw of the Qatar Open will begin on Sunday 11th February, concluding on Saturday 17th February with both the singles and doubles finals.

On most days play will begin at 12:30pm local time (9:30am GMT), with the singles final beginning at the later time of 6pm in Doha (3pm GMT).

Qualifying is currently underway and will be completed tomorrow (Saturday 10th February).

Where is the Qatar Open held?

The outdoor hard court tournament is once again being hosted at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in the capital of Qatar, Doha.

There are a total of 24 courts on the complex, four of those matchcourts, with Centre Court able to hold a maximum of 7,000 spectators.

Who is playing at the Qatar Open 2024?

The tournament is headlined by world No.1 and two-time champion Iga Swiatek, who will be looking to bounce back in her first match since suffering a shock early defeat at the Australian Open. 

Swiatek is joined by fellow top 10 players Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur, Qinwen Zheng, Marketa Vondrousova and Maria Sakkari.

All of the top eight seeds receive automatic byes to the second round, with the inform Jelena Ostapenko the final of those.

Australian Open champion and world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka has elected to skip this event, but is expected to return to action in Dubai the following week.

Alongside Swiatek, other former Qatar Open champions in the draw are Victoria Azarenka, Karolina Pliskova and Elise Mertens.

There are many eye-catching matches from the first round draw, with perhaps the standout being between Naomi Osaka and Caroline Garcia, in a rematch from the Australian Open.

Wildcards have been awarded to 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, former world No.2 Paula Badosa, Anna Kalinskaya and Zeynep Sonmez.

How many ranking points are on offer at the Qatar Open 2024?

With it being the first WTA 1000 event of the year, it is a big opportunity for players to build their rankings, which is very important this year with the Paris Olympics in sight.

Here is the breakdown of the ranking points on offer:

EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64QQ2Q1
Singles1000650390215120651030202
Doubles10

What is the prize money for the Qatar Open 2024?

The full prize pot for the tournament is $3,211,715, and here is the breakdown of that for singles:

Event WFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64
Singles $523,485$308,320$158,944$72,965$36,454$20,650$14,800

Previous winners of the Qatar Open

Over the past 10 years, the Qatar Open has alternated between a WTA 500 and 1000 event, with it being the higher of those in 2024.

Last year, Iga Swiatek defended the title in dominant fashion after beating Jessica Pegula in the final, dropping only five games throughout the entire tournament.

Here are the past 10 singles and doubles champions in Doha:

YearSingles ChampionDoubles Champions
2014 (WTA 1000)Simona Halep Hsieh Su-wei & Peng Shuai
2015 (WTA 500)Lucie Safarova Raquel Kops-Jones & Abigail Spears 
2016 (WTA 1000)Carla Suarez Navarro Chao Hao-ching & Chan Yung-jan 
2017 (WTA 500)Karolina Pliskova Abigail Spears (2) & Katarina Srebotnik (2)
2018 (WTA 1000)Petra Kvitova Gabriela Dabrowski & Jelena Ostapenko 
2019 (WTA 500)Elise MertensChao Hao-ching (2) & Latisha Chan 
2020 (WTA 1000)Aryna Sabalenka Hsieh Su-wei (2) & Barbora Strycova 
2021 (WTA 500)Petra Kvitova (2)Nicole Melichar-Martinez & Demi Schuurs 
2022 (WTA 1000)Iga SwiatekCoco Gauff & Jessica Pegula
2023 (WTA 500)Iga Swiatek (2)Coco Gauff (2) & Jessica Pegula (2)

 

How can you watch the Qatar Open 2024?

You can watch the Qatar Open on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland or on Tennis Channel in the United States of America.

For more information on how to watch the first WTA 1000 tournament of the year in your location, visit the official website here.


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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.