Marion Bartoli has been handed a tough first round clash against Alisa Kleybanova in the Qatar Ladies Open

Marion Bartoli enters this weeks Qatar Ladies Open as an outsider, but might be able to launch a decent challenge for the title if she can produce her best tennis here. The world No. 17 has an 8-4 season record, but remains unseeded for this competition. As a result of this, she’s been drawn against Alisa Kleybanova, in what looks set to be a close match.

Kleybanova appears to be in decent form this season. She made the semi-finals in Sydney and the quarter-finals in Dubai. She enters this tournament as the world No. 22, and will be aiming to build upon a 7-4 season record. The Russian will be the underdog for this match, though it will be no major surprise if she can get through to round two.

Bartoli has a 3-0 head to head lead against Kleybanova, having beaten her twice in 2008, and once in 2009. Notably, two of these victories were on hard courts, and Kleybanova is yet to even come close to snatching a set from Bartoli. Despite this, Kleybanova is a young player, and has improved since 2009. Maybe this time around she’ll be able to trouble her French opponent.