Quiet day in Doha for Naomi Osaka. The Japanese did not need to take the racket out of the bag to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open due to the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko. The winner of Ons Jabeur the day before was injured in an elbow. Osaka will play Karolina Pliskova in the next round.
Another pair of sleeves for the world No. 1, Iga Swiatek. The Pole was extremely wary of her opponent of the day, Ekaterina Alexandrova. Indeed, the Russian had beaten her during their first opposition in 2021 and had pushed her to the third set subsequently in 2022 and 2023. Hence a great start from Swiatek, who left only crumbs to his opponent in the first set.
Fernandez defies the odds
Alexandrova was able to react by obtaining four break points in the second game of the second set. But Swiatek tightened the game to resume his march forward. With her back against the wall, Alexandrova then began to unleash all her shots, saving four match points in the process. In the quarter-finals, Swiatek will face Victoria Azarenka (31st), who ended the run of Jelena Ostapenko (11th) in two straight sets (6-0, 6-3). Azarenka truly becomes Ostapenko’s beast since she has beaten her five times in a row, including three this year.
We will also remember from this day in Doha the victory of the Canadian Leylah Fernandez (38th) over the Chinese Qinwen Zheng, world n°7 (7-5, 6-3). The Australian Open finalist led 5-3 in the first set, but she was unable to prevent Fernandez from coming back into the match. It is Elena Rybakina, seeded n°3, who is now waiting for her.
2024-02-14 22:34:24
#Naomi #Osaka #quarterfinals #Doha #Open #playing
