2021 Abu Dhabi Women's Tennis Open
Date	6–13 January
Edition	1st
Category	WTA 500
Draw	64S / 28D
Surface	Hard / outdoor
Location	Abu Dhabi, UAE
Venue	Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre
Champions
Singles
Aryna Sabalenka
Doubles
Shuko Aoyama / Ena Shibahara
Abu Dhabi Open · 2023 →

The 2021 Abu Dhabi Women's Tennis Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the inaugural professional edition of the tournament and a WTA 500 tournament on the 2021 WTA Tour. It took place at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre in Abu Dhabi, from 6 January to 13 January 2021. Fourth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka won the singles title.^[1]

• Aryna Sabalenka def. Veronika Kudermetova, 6–2, 6–2

• Shuko Aoyama / Ena Shibahara def. Hayley Carter / Luisa Stefani, 7–6^(7–5), 6–4

Country	Player	Rank1	Seed
USA	Sofia Kenin	4	1
UKR	Elina Svitolina	5	2
CZE	Karolína Plíšková	6	3
BLR	Aryna Sabalenka	10	4
ESP	Garbiñe Muguruza	15	5
KAZ	Elena Rybakina	19	6
BEL	Elise Mertens	20	7
CZE	Markéta Vondroušová	21	8
GRE	Maria Sakkari	22	9
EST	Anett Kontaveit	23	10
USA	Jennifer Brady	24	11
CZE	Karolína Muchová	27	12
KAZ	Yulia Putintseva	28	13
USA	Amanda Anisimova	30	14
TUN	Ons Jabeur	31	15
CRO	Donna Vekić	32	16
RUS	Ekaterina Alexandrova	33	17

• ¹ Rankings are as of December 21, 2020

The following players received entry using a protected ranking into the singles main draw:

• Yaroslava Shvedova
• Zhu Lin

The following player received entry as an alternate:

• Ulrikke Eikeri

The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:

• Kateryna Bondarenko
• Anna Bondár
• Anastasia Gasanova
• Amandine Hesse
• Lucie Hradecká
• Lucrezia Stefanini
• Bianca Turati
• Yang Zhaoxuan

The following players received entry as lucky losers:

• Jodie Burrage
• Valentini Grammatikopoulou
• Despina Papamichail

before the tournament

• Amanda Anisimova → replaced by Ulrikke Eikeri
• Belinda Bencic → replaced by Vera Zvonareva
• Sorana Cîrstea → replaced by Despina Papamichail
• Danielle Collins → replaced by Tamara Zidanšek
• Fiona Ferro → replaced by Jodie Burrage
• Caroline Garcia → replaced by Jasmine Paolini
• Svetlana Kuznetsova → replaced by Wang Xiyu
• Elise Mertens → replaced by Valentini Grammatikopoulou
• Jeļena Ostapenko → replaced by Marta Kostyuk
• Kateřina Siniaková → replaced by Aliaksandra Sasnovich
• Patricia Maria Țig → replaced by Anastasia Potapova
• Alison Van Uytvanck → replaced by Jamie Loeb
• Zheng Saisai → replaced by Leylah Fernandez

during the tournament

• Karolína Muchová

• Kirsten Flipkens

Country	Player	Country	Player	Rank1	Seed
TPE	Hsieh Su-wei	CZE	Barbora Krejčíková	8	1
BEL	Elise Mertens	BLR	Aryna Sabalenka	11	2
USA	Nicole Melichar	NED	Demi Schuurs	23	3
BEL	Kirsten Flipkens	FRA	Kristina Mladenovic	33	4
JPN	Shuko Aoyama	JPN	Ena Shibahara	45	5
CHI	Alexa Guarachi	USA	Desirae Krawczyk	51	6
CHN	Xu Yifan	CHN	Yang Zhaoxuan	64	7
USA	Hayley Carter	BRA	Luisa Stefani	68	8

• Rankings are as of December 21, 2020

The following pairs received entry into the doubles main draw using a protected ranking:

• Kateryna Bondarenko / Nadiia Kichenok
• Elena Rybakina / Yaroslava Shvedova

The following pairs received entry into the doubles main draw as alternates:

• Jasmine Paolini / Martina Trevisan
• Nadia Podoroska / Sara Sorribes Tormo

Before the tournament

• Elise Mertens / Aryna Sabalenka → replaced by Nadia Podoroska / Sara Sorribes Tormo
• Kirsten Flipkens / Kristina Mladenovic → replaced by Jasmine Paolini / Martina Trevisan

During the tournament

• Karolína Muchová / Markéta Vondroušová

• ITF tournament draws