The 2018 season has already begun with a bang with some notable names beginning their seasons.

In Hua Hin, world No. 1 Simona Halep solidified her top ranking by winning the World Thailand Tennis Championships. She did not drop a set with wins over fellow Top 10 players Johanna Konta and Karolina Pliskova.

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While Pliskova fell to the Romanian in the final, she did defeat French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets the day prior. Ostapenko went down to Konta in the third-place match.

Some more top women will begin their 2018 campaigns in Abu Dhabi as well with 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams making her return to the court against Ostapenko. The exhibition match will take place on Day 3 (Saturday) at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships.

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Williams will be making her return to tennis ahead of the Australian Open, where she last played and won her record-breaking 23rd major crown before giving birth to her first daughter just four months ago in September.

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Unfortunately, injury has kept another top star out of Abu Dhabi as world No. 1 Rafael Nadal’s knee forced him to withdraw from the event as well as his first tour event in Brisbane.

Nadal's fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut replaced him in the draw. Nadal was far from the only withdrawal to plague Abu Dhabi as Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and then Novak Djokovic all postponed their starts to 2018.

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Andy Murray stepped into replace Djokovic, while Kevin Anderson and Andrey Rublev picked up the two other empty spots.

On Thursday, Anderson kicked off the event with a straight-sets win over Carreno Busta, while Buatista Agut took out Rublev. Rublev would end up in fifth place with a win over Carreno Busta on Friday.

Later on Friday, Anderson continued his strong play to beat Dominic Thiem for a spot in the final.

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Saturday will see Thiem play Carreno Busta for third place honors, with Anderson battling Bautista Agut for the title.

Halep starts '18 on 
a roll, while subs
step up in Abu Dhabi

Halep starts '18 on a roll, while subs step up in Abu Dhabi

JANUARY: THIS MONTH ON TENNIS CHANNEL PLUS

NEW SEASON, MORE TENNIS! Get Tennis Channel Plus now at BuyTCPlus.com

A LOT of tennis action will be played on Tennis Channel Plus from January through June

Starting with January …  gear up for the Australian Open with 6 LIVE tournaments in the lead up to AO, exclusively on Tennis Channel Plus

  1. Mubadala – Abu Dhabi

  2. Hopman Cup

  3. ATP Sydney

  4. Fast 4 Sydney

  5. World Tennis Channel – Adelaide

  6. Australian Open Qualifying

  7. Australian Open (Best 20 Matches of AO will be on-demand)