The Tennis Traveler: WTA 1000 Doha warms up Qatar for Formula 1 event at end of February
Qatar is a hot-spot for sports action this month with an ongoing 24-day camel festival, as well as their upcoming National Sports Day.
Thirty-seven out of the Top 40 ranked WTA players, including three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek, are kicking off 1000-level action in Doha, Qatar.
For fans, this means an action-packed women’s tennis tournament all week long, while for the Middle East, it’s another of many ongoing intensive sporting events happening all month long.
A 24-day camel festival has already set the sporting stage in Qatar. The annual Qatar Camel Festival, where “3,300 owners compete across 635 centers in a thrilling 24-day celebration of tradition and skill,” has been ongoing since January 29, and will conclude on February 21.
Also on the calendar: National Sports Day, set for February 11, just two days into WTA Doha. Qatar is celebrating with a 3.4 km night run through downtown Doha. Will any of our WTA players participate?
To round out the athleticism that February will bring to the region is the Qatar 1812 KM - FIA World Endurance Championship, held on the Lusail International Circuit that hosts Round 23 of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in November each year.
This event is a ten-hour endurance race taking place on the last weekend of February, from the 26th to the 28th. Named in honor of Qatar’s National Day, Formula 1 stars Valentino Rossi and Kevin Magnussen are set to participate, as well as the all-female racing team Iron Dames.
Although chronologically second on Qatar’s February sporting event list, for tennis fans, Doha kicks off back-to-back WTA 1000s as the tour heads to Dubai the following week.
Watch as the WTA season heats up on outdoor hard courts in the Middle East, live on Tennis Channel all month long.