Solid serves, powerful winners and most importantly the fans support, top seed Elina Svitolina had it all as she began quest for her maiden Qatar Total Open title yesterday.
During the action-packed third day at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, the World No.5 from Ukraine – who received a bye in the second round – crushed Misaki Doi 6-1, 6-2 to storm into the quarter-finals of the $565,530 tournament.
Svitolina’s ruthless display lasted for exactly an hour as the 26-year-old brought an end to Japanese lucky loser’s campaign that included her first round win over China’s Saisai Zheng.
The top seed, who reached the semi-final of the event in 2019, fired 26 winners to just 10 unforced errors to seal victory.
“I am really happy with my performance today, and to be here playing is really special for me,” Svitolina, who is looking to add golden Falcon Trophy to her collection, said after the win.
“It’s amazing to come back here and to see the crowd support.”
In her third quarter-final of the season after the Abu Dhabi and Gippsland Trophy outings, Svitolina will meet her doubles partner Victoria Azarenka in the last-8 clash, today.
Two-time champion in Doha, Azarenka brushed aside Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-4, 6-2, in her second round match, yesterday.
“It’s going to be an exciting match. We have been sharing the court on the same side but tomorrow it’s not on the same side but another side,” Svitolina said about her duel with Azarenka.
Seeded eighth, Azarenka rallied from 1-3 down in the first set to overcome qualifier Siegemund, who stunned World No.23 Elena Rybakina in the first round. The German struck 25 winners compared to Belarusian’s 15, but Azarenka was more consistent, keeping her unforced error count to 15 as compared to Siegemund’s 24.
Garbine Muguruza of Spain serves against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
Muguruza wins blockbuster against Sabalenka
In a much-hyped match last night that lived up to the top billing, former World No.1 Garbine Muguruza dispatched defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
The match that lasted for 2 hours and 26 minutes – the longest in the tournament so far – produced quality stuff with both the stars rallying for points – particularly in the last two sets.
Spaniard Muguruza, a World No.16, had a solid start winning the first set without much resistance, before third seeded Belarusian – World No.8 – staged a fightback to take the match to the decisive set.
Again it was 3-3, before Muguruza ended Sabalenka’s hopes of clinching a rare double in Doha, also avenging her defeat in Beijing when the two met last in 2018 .
“We both were playing great, I had my chances in the second set but I couldn’t closed the match and she (Sabalenka) came back stronger. I just fought and stayed back and kept thinking I would win,” said a calm-looking Muguruza.
The Spaniard will meet Greek Maria Sakkari, who defeated America’s Madison Keys 6-2, 6-2 to advance in one hour and eight minutes.
“This is a tough tournament and every player is very good. I am just looking ahead to another fight,” said Muguruza.
Karolina Pliskova gets her revenge
Meanwhile, second seeded Karolina Pliskova avenged her last year’s defeat to Ons Jabeur, defeating the Tunisian 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 13 minutes.
Backed by fans, World No.31 Jabeur – the highest-ranked Arab women ever – staged a fightback against the World No. 6 in the second set, but the Czech ensured to avoid her third round defeat last year.
Pliskova will meet American Jessica Pegula in the last-eight as the Australian Open quarter-finalist continued with her fine form, clinching a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 2016 runner-up Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.
Earlier yesterday, fourth seed Petra Kvitova – the 2018 champion – defeated Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-3 in 1 hour 13 minutes. The Czech fired 31 winners and recorded a 76% first serve percentage during her win.
Anett Kontaveit of Estonia serves to Angelique Kerber of Germany.
“I think I played pretty good game today, and I hope it will help me in the future,” Kvitova, who will meet Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in the quarter-final, said after her win.
Ranked 24 in the WTA computer, Kontaveit put up a dominating display to brush aside Germany’s Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-4, the 2014 Doha runner-up.
The Estonian dropped her serve just once as she took a 4-1 lead over the former World No.1 in head-to-head among the duo.
