Muguruza, Kontaveit advance as Svitolina falls at first hurdle

Doha: Last year’s runner-up Garbine Muguruza yesterday stormed into Round of 32 at Qatar TotalEnergies Open while seeded players Elina Svitolina and Angelique Kerber suffered early exits along with former champion Simona Halep. 

Fifth seed Spaniard, Muguruza beat Sorana Cirstea of Romania 7-6(4), 6-1 in an hour and 27 minute-long second round clash to go 13-6 in career wins at the WTA 1000 event.

The former World No.1 reached the Qatar TotalEnergies Open finals, in 2018 and last year where she lost to Petra Kvitova on both occasions.

“It is a very good start in Doha. I started slow as she started 100 percent. It took me a lot of effort to catch up. I think that first set was the key,” Muguruza said after the win at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.

“I have been here so many times and lost two finals. I was so close to holding the trophy but I looking forward, one day, take it home,” the former World No.1 said.

No.4 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia joined Muguruza in the round of 16, after Kontaveit defeated Ana Konjuh of Croatia 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and 24 minutes.

Meanwhile, defending champion Kvitova knocked out Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-3, 6-1 in the first round in just 55 minutes. 

Kvitova won 82 percent of points behind her fearsome serve and converted five of her six break points on the day. Kvitova will next face No.16 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium in the second round, after Mertens overcame Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. 

Earlier, Ukrainian Svitolina, seeded No.10 was overpowered by Czech Tereza Martincova, who battled through windy conditions to advance with a score-line of 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-6(5). The match, which lasted 2 hours and 59 minutes, is one of the longest in the 2022 season.

Martincova will next face either Veronika Kudermetova, fresh off last week’s Dubai final, or lucky loser Arantxa Rus.

Meanwhile, Jil Teichmann toppled No.13 seed Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 2 hours and 8 minutes in her Doha opener.

Jelena Ostapenko, the World No.13 secured a sixth straight victory overall in the Middle East with a 6-4, 6-2 first-round win over France’s Oceane Dodin.

Earlier, France’s Caroline Garcia emerged victorious against Halep for just the second time in their nine career meetings.

Garcia’s 6-4, 6-3 win against the 2014 Doha champion and former World No.1, was her first win in their all-time head-to-head in more than four years. 

“It was a very good match on my part. It was very tricky with the wind and cold weather ... and against Simona, it’s always a great battle against her,” Garcia said.

“Today, I was very happy to stay very aggressive and positive every point. She had a good week in Dubai last week and in Australia as well, so she’s full of confidence. I didn’t win a lot of matches at the beginning of the year; it was kind of complicated for me, but every match is a match and you have to fight from the first point to the last one. I did it very good today and I’m very pleased with my performance,” she said. 

Women's Singles
Round of 64
Jelena Ostapenko (15), Latvia, def. Oceane Dodin, France, 6-4, 6-2.
Tereza Martincova, Czech Republic, def. Elina Svitolina (10), Ukraine, 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Viktorija Golubic, Switzerland, def. Andrea Petkovic, Germany, 6-4, 6-4.
Magda Linette, Poland, def. Alison Riske, United States, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1.
Caroline Garcia, France, def. Simona Halep, Romania, 6-4, 6-3.
Coco Gauff (14), United States, def. Shelby Rogers, United States, 6-2, 6-3.
Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, def. Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania, 6-3, 6-1.
Daria Kasatkina, Russia, def. Ajla Tomljanovic, Australia, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2.
Elise Mertens (16), Belgium, def. Jasmine Paolini, Italy, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
Jil Teichmann, Switzerland, def. Angelique Kerber (13), Germany, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Jaqueline Adina Cristian, Romania, def. Elena Rybakina (11), Kazakhstan, 6-4, 6-3.
Arantxa Rus, Netherlands, def. Veronika Kudermetova, Russia, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Round of 32
Garbine Muguruza (5), Spain, def. Sorana Cirstea, Romania, 7-6 (4), 6-1.
Anett Kontaveit (4), Estonia, def. Ana Konjuh, Croatia, 6-2, 6-3.