With Simona Halep missing the top seeds in Qatar are world number one Ashleigh Barty, and Sofia Kenin, fourth in the world and winner of the Australian Open in 2020.
Serena Williams reached a 40th Grand Slam semi-final, overpowering 2nd seed Simona Halep to book an Australian Open last-four showdown with Naomi Osaka.
Australian Open: Simona Halep, whose seven-year streak in the top 10 is the longest active run among women, lifted her intensity and relentlessly hit the lines to force a ragged Iga Swiatek into errors.
Australian Open 2021: Simona Halep served strongly and pierced the lines to overwhelm the 32nd seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 18 minutes in the third round.
Australian Open: Simona Halep was rattled by big-hitting Alja Tomljanovic, but won five games in a row to survive a major scare and reach the Australian Open third round.
Australian Open 2021: Simona Halep sailed past local wildcard Lizette Cabrera 6-2, 6-1 in the first round on Monday.
Australian Open: Naomi Osaka, Victoria Azarenka joined Serena Williams and Simona Halep in the list of casualties ahead of the upcoming Australian Open.
Serena Williams stepped up her preparations for the Australian Open with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday at the Yarra Valley Classic.
Simona Halep made the announcement on Twitter, four weeks after she was knocked out of the French Open.
French Open: Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan, ranked 159, had not won a Grand Slam main draw match before this tournament.
French Open: Simona Halep, top seed and world number two, suffered a humiliating straight-sets loss to 19-year-old Iga Swiatek of Poland in the last 16.
French Open 2020: Rafael Nadal booked a last-16 berth, and is yet to drop a set in Paris.
French Open 2020: Simona Halep won the Roland Garros in 2018.
Rafael Nadal has yet to drop a set in Paris against opponents with a combined ranking of 319, but the Spaniard knows tougher examinations await in his pursuit of Roger Federer's record 20 major titles.
French Open: Simona Halep beat fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the third round at Roland Garros.
Rafael Nadal looks to build on a promising start to his quest to match Roger Federer's 20 Grand Slam titles at the French Open on Wednesday while Serena Williams faces a familiar foe in round two of her latest push to equal Margaret Court's all-time mark.
Opening day will see 2018 champion Simona Halep start her bid for a third major while 40-year-old Venus Williams kicks off her 23rd French Open. Andy Murray takes on Stan Wawrinka in the day's marquee tie.
Simona Halep holds a 20-2 record this season and is unbeaten since January -- her only losses came to Aryna Sabalenka in Adelaide and Muguruza in the Australian Open semi-finals.
